How did it end up like this?
by Rach1989
Summary: Kurt and Blaine are the perfect couple, so it's only natural that Kurt asks Blaine to move in with him. Enter Kurt's roommate Rachel Berry, after drunken mistake, will Blaine and Rachel ever be able to go back to how things were?
1. Chapter 1

**Yes I'm back already! I know it's not long since I finished 'Without You.' But I've been working on this ever since I posted the final chapter, and I've really gotten into writing it. My next story was going to be a St Berry story, as I already had something planned out for them again, but I decided to leave them alone for a while, and try my hand at writing something different. That's how I came up with this, a lovely piece of Raine for me to sink my teeth into. **

**This story is kind of AU because Glee hasn't happened in this story, the story focuses mainly on Kurt, Blaine and Rachel, but the other Glee characters will appear at various points. This is the first time that I've ever written anything like this, so I'm grateful for all feedback that you'd be willing to share. I love reading reviews, so if you could, please let me know what you're feeling about this story. I'm hoping that I'll be able update regularly, more regularly that I did for 'Without You' anyway, although if you read that, then you'd know that even if the updates aren't very regular, I still make it a mission of mine to finish the story. So you can count on that at least.**

**Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, all that's left for me to say really is that I don't own Glee and that all events are fictional, I do however own the plot :)**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>Blaine knew that it was a big step when Kurt had asked him to move in. They'd known each other for a long time, but now that they were together – it was a different matter.<p>

Blaine remembered the first time that they'd met, Kurt was playing dress up alone in the corner of the room, and Blaine had come and joined in with no objections from Kurt. They'd been best friends ever since. When Blaine realised that he was gay and began taking an interest in boys properly, going out on dates, it never even occurred to her that Kurt could be someone that he could take an interest in. He was just Kurt. After fourteen years of being practically glued to each other, they each encountered comments of them making a cute couple. Both had screwed up their faces at the idea of being a couple whenever someone mentioned it. Neither of them had realised what was happening to them until that one day that…well…it just happened.

Both were in Kurt's room, and Blaine was teaching Kurt how to play the guitar. Kurt stole Blaine's guitar pick, and they were both laughing as Blaine pinned him down on the bed underneath him. As they joked around, their eyes met and the laughing stopped. It was as if for the first time in fourteen years they were seeing each other for the first time. Blaine saw his intense blue eyes staring up at him, and could feel his body beneath him as he breathed in and out. Blaine could feel his begin to beat faster as he leant in and kissed him.

And that was how it all began.

They'd been a couple for about five months when Kurt asked Blaine to move in with him. He shared an apartment with friend Rachel, but Blaine didn't see that as an issue. He didn't even hesitate when Kurt asked him. He knew that it would be brilliant being able to spend time with each other, more than they already did. Kurt was a fashion intern at one of New York's newest boutiques, and Blaine was year into studying music at NYU. Blaine's roommates seemed more than happy to hear that he was moving out. They claimed that they saw nothing of him anyway.

"How did you fit all of this stuff into your room?" Kurt asked, "It's tiny!"

"I guess I packed it in there pretty well," Blaine replied.

"Apparently so, but three boxes and two suitcases?" Kurt laughed as Blaine placed the last suitcase into the trunk of the car, "I don't know if you're aware, but my apartment is incredibly small,"

"I'm sure we'll find some space somewhere,"

After a few attempts, Blaine slammed the trunk shut and the two of them walked hand in hand back to the apartment block so that Blaine could say goodbye to his roommates. After a few tears, the pair were finally ready to leave. This was a huge step in Blaine's life – and he was looking forward to what the future held.

It only took them ten minutes to get to Kurt's apartment and in no time at all they were unpacking everything that they had put into the car only fifteen minutes ago. They didn't bother to empty the boxes or suitcases, they both too worn out and excited to do anything else. Both collapsed into the sofa, with Blaine's arm securely wrapped around Kurt. Seconds later, Rachel walked through the door.

"Well you were conveniently not here when we were lugging the suitcases in here," Kurt laughed, Rachel giggled and sat down on the chair opposite them.

"Sorry, I tried to get away from rehearsal earlier, but we've got a show coming up and…" Kurt laughed and shook his head.

"It's fine Rachel, I was kidding." Rachel smiled and glanced at Blaine who was watching his boyfriend and now new roommate interact.

"I feel terrible, I really wanted to be here for when you got back, I wanted to welcome Blaine to our home properly," Rachel argued, and Blaine couldn't help smiling.

"It's cool Rachel," Rachel bit her lip as the three of them eased into a comfortable silence, before jumping up ad squealing loudly.

"I'll be right back!" she announced before running into the kitchen, Blaine waited until the clicking of her heels had disappeared before sitting up and turning to face Kurt.

"Is she always like that?" he asked, to which Kurt just laughed and nodded.

"Rachel's lovely, really she is, you just have to get to know her first." He smiled, "I found her to be completely overbearing when we first met," Blaine nodded and settled back down as Rachel came running back into the living with what appeared to be a large bottle of very expensive champagne. Kurt sat up straight in his seat causing Blaine to move to, he glanced at Kurt before looking at a beaming Rachel.

"Wow," was all Blaine could say,

"My dad's gave it to me when I moved out here, they told me to save it for a special occasion, I thought about saving it for opening night, but I thought Blaine moving in is equally as special," she explained, Kurt rushed off into the kitchen to find some glasses leaving Blaine and Rachel alone. Blaine gave her a shy smile as Rachel returned to her seat in front of him.

"Thank you Rachel, but you really don't have to, your opening night is pretty big thing," Rachel shrugged and placed the bottle on the table next to her.

"It's no big deal really, my dad's are coming down for my opening night, and we'll celebrate then." She smiled and Blaine nodded, "I'm just really happy for you guys, I know that Kurt has been looking forward to you moving in here for some time."

"Well it's a big step," Blain agreed.

"Of course it is," Rachel nodded, "And I just wanted to let you know that I'll be at rehearsals a lot of the time anyway, so you and Kurt will pretty much have the place to yourselves, without having to worry about me getting in the way."

"Rachel this is your home as much as it is ours," Kurt announced as he walked back into the living room, Blaine grinned at his boyfriend and Rachel just blushed.

"I was just saying…"

"We've been over this time and time again Rachel, Blaine moving in isn't going to change anything between the three of us," Kurt sighed, before glancing at Blaine, "She's been worrying about getting in the way ever since I asked you move in." Rachel blushed as Blaine turned to smile at her once more; she sensed that it was time to change the subject.

"Bring those glasses over here Kurt," she grinned, he placed them on the table before sitting down next to Blaine once more. Rachel began to open the bottle, first unwrapping the seal, and then slowly edging the cork out of the top of the bottle. Suddenly the cork flew into the air, causing Blaine and Kurt to cheer, before bouncing off the light and landing in between Blaine and Kurt. Rachel bit her lip and tried to stifle a smile.

"Oops." She giggled, before pouring them all an equal glass, and placing the bottle back onto the table.

"Cheers," she grinned.

"Cheers,"

"Cheers," Blaine grinned, "To new roommates,"


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for the phenomenal reaction to the first chapter, I wasn't expecting to have so many alerts, based on just one chapter. It really made me smile. I've been writing for this most of the day and I've really enjoyed it, this is the first time that my stories have included Blaine, and I've adored writing for him. I'm hoping that I've got his character right anyway. **

**Thanks again for the response and I hope you enjoy the next chapter :)**

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><p>Later that night, Kurt woke up and found himself lying on the sofa next to Blaine – who was fast asleep. They must have fallen to sleep watching a film, as he glanced around the room, it seemed that Rachel had already gone to bed.<p>

"Blaine…Blaine wake up," Kurt said, softly nudging his boyfriend

Nothing.

"Blaine…Blaine," he repeated a little louder this time, "Blaine."

He stirred, but didn't wake up. Kurt sighed as he slowly began to edge out of Blaine's gentle grasp, but as he moved he caught his foot on the lamp sitting on the small table next to the sofa. It fell off the table and smashed loudly. Blaine woke up now, startled by what was going on around him.

"Sorry," Kurt apologised, "I knocked the lamp over,"

"It's okay," Blaine smiled, rubbing his eyes.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Kurt smiled, "I'll sort the lamp out in the morning,"

Blaine smiled and stretched and held his hands out to his boyfriend who helped him to his feet, before they both made their way to Kurt's bedroom.

"I'll be with you in sec," Kurt told Blaine, before walking into the bathroom. Blaine nodded and headed towards the bedroom. He turned on the bedroom light and stood in the doorway for a few seconds. His new bedroom.

He smiled to himself as he got changed, pulling on one of his old shirts to sleep in, and got into bed – making sure that he didn't get too comfy. He was determined not to fall asleep before Kurt got back. He scanned the room, before his eyes rested on the bedside table, and his two favourite pictures of the two of them. The first one had been taken years ago – when they were about six – They had been to a fancy dress party as tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. Blaine couldn't remember which one he'd been. The photo shown Blaine attempting to give Kurt a piggyback, but as their costumes were stuffed with cotton wool, it was proving difficult. Blaine thought that they both looked adorable, especially Kurt.

The next photo was a much more recent one. They were both wearing huge sunglasses that almost covered their faces. Blaine remembered clearly the day that it had been taken. They'd both been thrown out of the store for taking photos of them in practically every pair of sunglasses and 'disrupting' the other customers. They'd then gone for a walk through Central Park, where Kurt had asked Blaine to move in with him. In a movie, a moment like that would be cheesy, Kurt would have written it on the ground, or made a boat pass by saying 'move in with me, Blaine,' – but it wasn't. It was extremely cute, because even though they'd known each other for fourteen years, Kurt was still nervous and shy when he'd asked him. He must have fallen asleep again, reminiscing about the past, as the next time he opened his eyes, Light was breaking through the curtains, and Kurt was asleep next to him.

Blaine watched him sleep for a while, and got up to go to the bathroom. He had a shower, and when he returned to the bedroom, Kurt had got up. He got dressed and trundled down the stairs to find Kurt making breakfast.

"Morning," he grinned, as Blaine took a seat, "Slept well, I gather?"

"Yes," he laughed, blushing slightly, "Sorry, I fell asleep before you came back last night,"

"Don't be," Kurt laughed, loading a plate up with food, "I was exhausted to, I would have done the same,"

"So, are we going to start sorting out space for my things today?" Blaine asked, as Kurt placed a plate down in front of him, Blaine smiled gratefully as his stomach rumbled for food.

"I suppose we should really, although I have no idea how it's all going to fit, my summer collection alone fills the closet." Kurt sat down next to Blaine as they both tucked into their breakfast.

"I bet Rachel will help to, she seemed pretty last night," Blaine stated, and Kurt shrugged.

"Maybe, although she's pretty with rehearsals right now, I have no idea when she's around these days." Kurt explained, just before Rachel entered the kitchen in search for her morning coffee.

"Morning Rachel," Kurt smiled handing her a cup of freshly brewed coffee, Rachel smiled coffee and took the seat next to Blaine.

"Kurt was just telling me how busy you are with rehearsals these days," Blaine commented, as Rachel sipped at her coffee, she nodded and smiled.

"Opening night is only a few weeks away, so everything is so crazy right now," Blaine nodded and Kurt gave him his best 'I told you so' look.

"Well whilst you're treading the boards, Blaine and I will be figuring out how to make some space in an already crammed room," Kurt commented, and Blaine rolled his eyes. Rachel smiled and placed her cup on the table.

"I could help," she announced, Blaine smirked at Kurt, before turned to face Rachel.

"Really, that would be great," Rachel shrugged.

"It's the least I could do," Kurt sighed and began clearing away the breakfast things. Whilst Rachel filled Blaine in on what her show was about and how she'd been given the lead role, even though she was a freshman. Blaine listened politely, contributing to the conversation whenever he had the chance, talking to Rachel about his music studies at NYU. Kurt smiled as he finished clearing away the dishes, he was so happy that they were able to get on so well, Blaine meant the world to him, he always had done, but Rachel had become such a good friend to him since they'd moved in together when they'd both first arrived in New York.

"Well, as cosy as this is," Kurt announced, clapping his hands together eagerly, "We need to make some space in the bedroom, and it could take a while," Blaine and Rachel laughed, both knowing that it was next to impossible to believe that Kurt was willingly going create some space in his bedroom, that was already filled with numerous amounts of clothes. Kurt was also aware that it was going to be a ridiculously difficult task to sort through his clothes to clear some room for Blaine, but he knew that Blaine was worth it, he was happy that Blaine had finally moved in.

"Hey, why don't the three of us go out tonight?" Blaine suggested later that day, as the three of them continued to sort through some of Kurt's clothes. 'It'll be fun." Kurt agreed and Rachel sighed sadly, causing the two boys to stop what they were doing and stare at her.

"I'd love to, really I would," she started, "But we're rehearsing again this evening, we start at seven and we'll probably be there until later, I'm really sorry,"

"It's fine Rachel, honestly," Kurt stated before turning around and pulling out a selection clothes and examining them against his body, Rachel gave Blaine a pleading look and Blaine smiled at her.

"It's cool Rachel, we'll do it another night, you just make sure you save us both seats to your opening night, that way we can see whether all these rehearsals are paying off," Blaine gave her a cheeky grin, and Rachel laughed, but agreed all the same that the tickets were theirs if they really them.

"Besides, I don't really have that much money for a night on the tiles," Kurt had pretty much given up on his clothing dilemma and sat down on the bed next to Blaine, who gave him a confused look.

"It doesn't have to be much, I just think we could do with getting out," Blaine explained, "It's been so long since we last went out," Blaine stared at Kurt lovingly, and Kurt knew that it was pointless trying to argue with him.

"Fine, we'll go out, but we're not going anywhere until we get this mess sorted out," Kurt laughed, before the three of them continued to sort through Kurt's room. As the afternoon progressed, Blaine had pretty much given up with the sorting side of things, and was now sitting on the bed flicking through a box of photos that he'd found at the back of Kurt's closet.

"Blaine, we can look through those later," Kurt complained, knowing really that it was useless, he was too engrossed in the photos.

"But Kurt look at this one," Blaine grinned handing him the photograph that was in his hand. "It's your fifth birthday party!" Kurt smiled as he glanced at the photo, the two of them were staring at the camera, covered in chocolate cake.

"I was so ill that day, I've never looked at chocolate cake again." He laughed, as Blaine picked up another photo from the box, Rachel curiously glanced over at them, both now sat on the bed. She smiled at them both and shook her head.

"Oh, do you remember when this one was taken?" Blaine asked, Kurt laughed and nodded.

"Okay you two, if you're going to spend the afternoon looking, then I'll leave you to it," Rachel smiled, causing the two boys to look up,

"Sorry Rachel, you're right, we'll look at these later, we need to get this finished." Blaine smiled placing the photos back in the box and pulling Kurt to his feet again.

"I think we've managed to find some space in closet," Rachel announced, Blaine walked over to the closet followed by Kurt and peered into the tiny gap, he glanced at Rachel who shrugged before turning to face an embarrassed Kurt.

"I'm sorry, it's just so hard," Kurt said, defending himself. Blaine laughed and kissed Kurt's forehead.

"Don't worry, I'll just squeeze my clothes into those drawers over there," Kurt smiled gratefully and Blaine just grinned.

"I'll go and get the last suitcase," he announced, before walking out of the bedroom. Rachel smiled as she glanced back at Kurt who was looking lovingly through the doorway, before she sat back on the bed next to the discarded box of photographs.

"So, you're glad you asked Blaine to move in then?" she asked, already knowing the answer, Kurt turned to face her, his smile bigger than ever, before jumping onto the bed next to her.

"It's the best feeling ever!" he announced happily, "I don't know why I didn't do it sooner,"

Rachel nodded and picked up the photograph that the boys had been looking at only moments ago.

"I can't believe you've known each other all this time," Rachel commented, "What happened when you boyfriends growing up, wasn't he jealous?"

"I know you'll think it's weird, but growing up, I didn't really look at Blaine like that, he was just Blaine. But now that we're together, I can't imagine ever being with anyone else,"

Rachel nodded, she understood perfectly where Kurt was coming from. She hated to admit it, but she was jealous of what they both had. She's been living in New York now for almost a year, and she hadn't met anyone that she could imagine being in a relationship with. Living with Kurt was great, but she couldn't help what it would be like if she had a boyfriend at home waiting for her. Just like Kurt and Blaine did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three? Hell yes! I really hope you're still enjoying this, I know I seem to be updating this a lot, but it's because I've really gotten into writing this story and I'm excited about where it's heading. The next couple of chapters focus on Blaine and Kurt living as a couple and Rachels life separate from them.**

**I hope you enjoy x**

They had been working in Kurt's room for most of the day, but it was finally done and out of the way. Rachel was now getting ready to head out to her rehearsal, Blaine was in the lounge re-vitalising himself, and Kurt was in his bedroom adding the 'finishing touches'. Blaine was strictly forbidden to enter until Kurt called him. Whilst Blaine was sitting alone in the lounge, Rachel entered hunting for her car keys.

"Well, I'm heading out to rehearsals now," she smiled, as Blaine picked them up out of the key bowl next to the door, she took them off him and sat down next to him for a few minutes.

"Are you and Kurt still planning on going out?" she asked him, Blaine shrugged and glanced in the direction of Kurt's room.

"I think so, that's if Kurt ever comes out of there. Any idea what he's doing?" he asked, Rachel shrugged and stood up.

"It's a mystery, but whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be worth it. See you later."

"Have a good rehearsal Rachel," she smiled sweetly at him and headed towards the door.

"You two have fun tonight!" Rachel shouted loudly enough for Kurt hear, before shutting the door behind her and leaving Blaine sitting alone once again. He sighed loudly as he looked around the empty room, this place still didn't feel like his, he felt like a guest, so when no one was around he felt a little uncomfortable. He was just about to make his way to Kurt's room and sneakily find out what he was doing, when Kurt appeared in the doorway in front of him.

"You're not by any chance, sneaking around, trying to see what I'm doing are you?" Kurt asked, a smirk appearing on his face, Blaine laughed and pulled his boyfriend closer towards him.

"Me? Sneaking around? Never!" he laughed, kissing Kurt gently, "I'm simply intrigued, what are you doing in there?"

Kurt smiled and took Blaine by the hand and led him towards the bedroom.

"Close your eyes," Kurt told him, holding his own hands in front of Blaine's eyes.

"Well, I can't exactly see with your hands in the way anyway," Blaine laughed as Kurt continued to guide him towards the room.

"Now keep them closed," Kurt ordered as he gently removed his own hands and walked away from Blaine and switched the light on.

"Okay, open your eyes," Blaine slowly opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light, before noticing a thin piece of spring hung across the width of the room. It was similar to a homemade washing line, but instead of clothes pegged to it; there were photos, hundreds of them. The box that they had been in lay empty on the bed.

"Kurt, this is incredible," Blaine said, moving further into the room to take a closer look. Kurt was pleased with his handiwork, and extremely pleased that Blaine liked it.

"You're amazing," Blaine told him, turning away from the photos and back to his boyfriend, before stepping forward to kiss him.

"No, you're amazing," Kurt countered, returning the kiss.

"I really don't know what I'd do without you," Blaine told him as the kiss came to an end.

"Well I'm not going anywhere,"

Rachel was exhausted, physically exhausted. They'd been rehearsing the same scene for the three hours and it was really beginning to take a strain on her. It didn't help that her leading man, Jacob, was a complete jerk, and that the director couldn't make his mind up of what he wanted to see in the scene. The cast were on a five minute break and Rachel was making the most of it.

"Hey Rachel," she smiled as her friend; Tina approached her, water in hand.

"Hello Tina," Tina sat down next to her and began rubbing her feet, Rachel laughed and Tina rolled her eyes.

"I don't know how you do it Rachel, my feet are killing me, yet you still manage to look graceful on stage." Rachel simply shrugged and took another sip from her water bottle.

"I just try not to think about it," she glanced across the stage to see Jacob walking towards her, Rachel groaned inwardly and Tina glanced around to see what was the matter.

"So Rachel, I'm taking you out tonight, we'll have a few drinks, I'll show you the best night of your life, make sure you change first though okay," he walked off without giving Rachel an opportunity to retort. Tina rolled her eyes as she watched Jacob strut across the stage, Rachel shuddered and tried to block Jacob from her thoughts.

"I see Jacob is still the same jerk he's always been." She commented.

"You wouldn't believe it," Rachel commented. Rachel and Tina had been friends since they had both been accepted into Juilliard, almost twelve months ago, they'd both come from Lima, Ohio, yet they'd never met, they'd bonded over this and been good friends ever since. Jacob, now in his second year, had always lived in New York, and believed he was a better person because of this. He'd set his sights on Rachel during her first week at Juilliard and hadn't let them go since. Rachel had been thrilled when she'd been given the lead role, but she'd had her spirits dampened slightly when she'd found out that Jacob was to be her leading man, and that she'd have to work with him on a more regular basis.

"So anyway, how are things between you and Mike?" Rachel asked, trying to change the subject, it was bad enough working with Jacob; she really didn't want to spend her break time talking about him as well. Tina's face lit up at the sound of her boyfriend's name. Tina and Mike had dated throughout High School, and Mike was studying dance at NYU.

"He's really busy, he has a show coming up to, so we hardly get to see each other these days, but I'm sure it'll be okay when school lets out and we get to spend the entire summer together," Rachel smiled, but kind of wished that she'd have picked something else to talk about with Tina. It was bad enough living with a loved up couple, without having to listen to her best friend talk about her boyfriend with such admiration.

"Okay everyone, break's over, let's get back to work. I want this scene finished before we finish tonight!" Rachel and Tina exchanged tired looks before getting to their feet and walking back to the stage.

Kurt and Blaine had spent a while looking at and talking about the photos that Kurt had put up, reminiscing about the past.

"I can't believe we didn't see it before," Blaine commented, lying back on the bed.

"See what?" Kurt asked, lying down with him.

"Us – being together," Blaine explained, "I mean, we've known each other for fourteen years, and not once did I think about us being together."

"I don't know, it just kind of happened didn't it?" Kurt smiled, rolling onto his side so he could face Blaine properly, "I'm glad it did though, aren't you?"

Blaine mimicked Kurt's actions, by lying on his side and grinned at him.

"Of course I'm glad," Blaine grinned, taking Kurt's hand and kissing it gently. The pair lay on the bed silently, both caught up in their own thoughts.

"Okay, still want to go out for something to eat?" Kurt asked, sitting up quickly.

"Sure," Blaine replied, sitting up, "And I know exactly where to go,"

"Well, it needs to be cheap and in walking distance." Kurt laughed,

"It's both of those," Blaine grinned standing up and holding out his hand, "Come on, let's go." Kurt took Blaine's hand and Blaine led him out of the apartment and into the street.

"So, where are we going?" Kurt asked as they walked through the streets of New York.

"It's a secret," Blaine smiled, "You'll have to wait and see."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four :D Thanks for all the alerts that have been put onto this story, I really appreciate it. Here's the next chapter with a little insight into Rachel's life, after all, we've seen a lot of Blaine and Kurt recently. There might be some other people in this chapter that you recognise as well :) Please don't forget to leave me a review, they make me smile so much, you have no idea.**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>"Stop, just stop!" Rachel sighed as the rehearsal came to a halt yet again, she lifted her head and stared out looking at the director.<p>

"It's wrong, all wrong." Rachel looked pleadingly at the rest of cast, who all appeared to be just as confused as she was.

"But we were doing everything you told us to," Rachel explained.

"Well it's not working, we open in a matter of weeks and it's a shambles!" Rachel frowned, yes Jacob was a jerk and that certainly put a dampener on things, but as far as the play went, she thought it was looking pretty good.

"I don't know what else we can do," Rachel continued.

"Well, we might as well call it a night, I doubt you're going to improve now, it's taken you hours to get to this awful standard."

The director let out an exasperated sigh and walked away, leaving the cast confused on the stage. Rachel was trying her hardest not to let her fury get the better of her, the Rachel Berry of high school would have easily spoken her mind and made her opinions perfectly clear, but she'd learnt quickly that sometimes it's better to keep her opinions to herself.

"Don't let him get to you Rachel," she smiled, before realising that the comment had come from Jacob, "It's a big thing for a freshman to take on the lead role, maybe you're just not cut out for it," he smirked at her and strutted across the stage. Rachel could feel her temper rising in her, but instead of acting on it, she stormed from the stage and into her dressing room, where Tina quickly followed her.

"Rachel, Jacob's a jerk, everybody knows that," she smiled and Rachel just sighed.

"It's not just that T, it's everything." Tina nodded, she'd noticed that the strain was getting to Rachel and had become increasingly concerned about her friend as the weeks had gone by.

"I'm meeting Mike for drinks, why don't you join us?" Tina suggested, "It'll help take your mind of things, and we haven't had a night out in ages,"

"Thanks for the offer T, but I think I'll just go home and have an early night," she noticed her friend about to argue and shook her head. "I'll be fine honestly, besides you don't want me acting like a third wheel."

Tina sighed and watched as Rachel picked up her bag and headed towards the door, Rachel paused and Tina walked over to hug her.

"Don't let them get to you Rachel, you earned this role fair and square," she smiled, Rachel gave her grateful smile before saying her goodbyes and walking out of the theatre and into the cold New York air.

"Ta-da!" Blaine laughed as he and Kurt came to a halt at a hot dog stand.

"This is your idea of a romantic night out?" Kurt asked, and Blaine shrugged.

"Well, it's cheap and convenient." Blaine explained, as he pulled out his wallet. "Two please."

The man behind the stand made up their hotdogs and handed them over to Blaine, who in turn handed on to Kurt, before the two boys continued their walk through the bustling street.

"You know what?" Kurt asked, after taking a bite of his hotdog, "This isn't half bad."

"So it's okay then?" Blaine grinned.

"It's perfect."

The two boys continued with their moonlight walk, Kurt embracing the fact that they were able to do this whenever they felt like it. He'd always felt that New York City was where he belonged, and when he'd been given the internship he felt like his life was finally coming together, and when Blaine received his acceptance letter from NYU, he was overjoyed that he was going to be able to experience this wonderful city with the person who meant the most to him in his life.

"Isn't this place brilliant?" he asked dreamily, holding his hands high in the air to demonstrate the beauty of the city. Blaine smiled, and was just about to warn him that someone was approaching him, but it was too late, the young couple walked straight into Kurt, knocking him forward and into Blaine's arms. Kurt turned around, a furious expression on his face, that was until he saw the person that he'd been bumped by.

"Mercedes? Oh my god!" Mercedes grinned as she hugged her friend, "How long has it been, what six months?"

Blaine stood by awkwardly as he watched his boyfriend catch up with his friend, noticing a young blonde stood beside Mercedes doing exactly the same thing, he gave him a shy nod before focusing his attention back into his boyfriend.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Kurt grinned, clasping Blaine's hand and pulling him in line with him, "Mercedes, this is my best friend in the whole entire world, and the love of my life, this is Blaine." Blaine blushed at this introduction, but shook hands with Mercedes none the less. "And this is Mercedes, you remember me telling you about her, we interned together when we first arrived in New York, she left to work in another boutique, I can't believe this." Kurt laughed and hugged Mercedes again, who in turn turned around to introduce her boyfriend.

"This is Sam, he plays football for NYU, we've been dating for a few months now," Kurt gave Sam an approving look, before grinning at Mercedes again.

"So what's new?" Mercedes asked, as the four of them started walking again.

"Blaine and I have moved in together now,"

"Really, that's great news, you guys should totally have a party to celebrate," Blaine and Kurt exchanged glances and Mercedes carried on.

"It would be great to catch up properly and a party would be an amazing way to do that, don't you think Sam?" Sam, who had been pretty silent this whole time, looked up and shrugged, Blaine could tell, like him, Sam didn't entirely feel involved in this conversation.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to do this, but we've got to run, we're actually on our way out to dinner, but it was great to see you again," Mercedes hugged Kurt tightly again, before linking arms with Sam. "I look forward to receiving an invite," Blaine and Kurt laughed as they watched Mercedes walk off into the distance, before glancing at each other.

"So what do you think about this whole party idea?" Kurt asked, obviously intrigued by the whole idea, Blaine shrugged and clasped hands with him again.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, "I mean, it might be fun, but we'd have to check with Rachel first, wouldn't we?"

Kurt nodded, "Yeah, but I think she'd be cool with it, she needs to take a break from all those rehearsals, she needs to let loose every once in a while." Blaine laughed, at his boyfriend's persistence.

"Well, then I guess we're having a party," he agreed.

Rachel arrived back at her apartment, expecting to see Blaine and Kurt cuddled on the sofa, watching a movie, but when she walked into the empty apartment, she remembered that they'd gone out for the evening. She sighed as she poured herself a glass of wine and retreated back into the lounge and slumping onto the sofa. She switched on the TV, and began flicking through the channels, and quickly wishing that she'd taken Tina up on her offer, some company would have been nice. Feeling sorry for herself, she finished her wine and headed back into the kitchen to get another glass, only this time she brought the bottle with her. She slumped back onto the sofa and continued to sip at her wine, not taking any notice now what was on the TV.

An hour later, Kurt and Blaine arrived home, not thinking about Rachel, they began making out straight away, heading in the direction of the lounge. As Blaine stepped back towards the sofa, he stepped on something that let out a quiet squeak. Blaine and Kurt sprung apart as Kurt jumped forward to switch the light on. Blaine glanced behind him to see Rachel lay across the sofa. Kurt rolled his eyes and linked arms with Blaine.

"It must have been some rehearsal," he commented, picking up an empty bottle of wine that sat on the table. Blaine shrugged and crouched down to Rachel's level.

"Do you think she's okay?" Blaine asked, Kurt shrugged, more concerned about what he and Blaine could be doing now if Rachel wasn't spread across the sofa.

"Rachel? Rachel can you hear me?" Blaine asked, gently shaking her, Rachel's eyes fluttered open, and she jumped when she saw Blaine so close to her.

"It's okay, we were just checking you were okay," Rachel gave him weary smile and tried to get to her feet, stumbling slightly. Luckily Blaine was there to catch her.

"Easy there," he said steadying her. Rachel grinned at him, before giving Kurt a worried look, in seconds she'd turned green and the excess of the wine that she'd been drinking came up – all over Blaine.

"Now that's disgusting!" Kurt shrieked, Blaine attempted to keep calm as he carefully removed his shirt, and walked into the kitchen, Kurt following slowly behind him.

"I'll leave it to soak," Blaine explained, running the hot water tap in the sink, Kurt shook his head and sighed loudly.

"I don't know what's the matter, she doesn't usually drink," Kurt explained,

"Maybe the rehearsals are really getting to her?" Blaine suggested, knowing how stressful preparing for a performance could be, he'd been in enough to know. The two continued to talk, Kurt still wishing that they could have finished what they started earlier.

"Well that should do it," Blaine smiled, as he turned the tap off, he turned around to notice Kurt who's eyes were fixated on him. He grinned as he walked forward and pulled him closer to him, giving him a gentle kiss before Rachel appeared in the doorway.

"Rachel, why don't you go to bed, you'll feel better in the morning," Kurt sighed.

Rachel's face fell, and Blaine swore he could see real tears.

"You just want me out of the way," she started, "I told you I'd get in the way," Blaine couldn't help it, he started feeling sorry for her. He removed his arms from around Kurt's waist and Kurt just sighed.

"Rachel, you're drunk." He stated, well aware that he was stating the obvious.

"I drunk what?" Rachel asked, Blaine just resist it any longer, he let out a quiet laugh and walked over to Rachel.

"Quite a lot, by the looks of it," he explained, "Come on, I'll help you to your room."

Blaine put Rachel's arm around him and lead her out of the kitchen and down the hallway to her room, Kurt followed closely behind, just in case Rachel collapsed again. With a struggle, they finally managed to get Rachel into her room and onto her bed, where she fell asleep again. That's how they left her, before closing the door quietly and standing in the hallway.

"Do you think she'll be alright now?" Blaine asked,

"I suspect so, she's asleep, so that's a good sign," Kurt smiled as Blaine yawned.

"So now I'm boring you?" Blaine laughed and shook his head.

"I'm just tired, it's been a long day, I think I'll call it a night,"

"So you can't be tempted to join me on the sofa and watch a lame movie?" Kurt asked, and Blaine smiled and wrapped his arms around Kurt.

"I could be tempted," he grinned before leaning in to kiss Kurt.

They didn't make it to the lounge; instead they'd headed directly for the bedroom, which Kurt didn't really object to. Although they were certainly not sleeping which Blaine had originally thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**We're moving along nicely with this story now :) I'd just like to thank everyone who has put an alert on this story, it's nice to wake up and see all of them in my inbox. I know this'll probably sound incredibly greedy, but if you wouldn't mind leaving me a small review I'd be incredibly grateful, the main reason being, I'd just love to know what you're thinking about this story, and if there is anything that you'd like to see happen in this etc.**

**Anyway, that's all from me for now, other than I don't own Glee, nor do I claim to. xx**

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><p>The next morning, Rachel didn't surface until almost 11, and when she did her head was killing her. She opened her eyes slowly, and realised that she was in her own bed, which was certainly a relief, the only problem, she had no recollection of actually getting to bed the night before. She slowly sat up and tried to ignore the pounding that was going on in her head, she removed the covers to find that she was still wearing the clothes from last night. She let out a quiet groan and stumbled towards the bathroom, hoping that a shower would help to freshen her up and make her feel better. It didn't. She managed to get dressed, and luckily she managed to find the over sized sunglasses that she'd bought only a week ago. She made her way into the kitchen were Blaine and Kurt were sat enjoying a mug coffee, both of them lifted their heads as she walked inside. Blaine handing her, his own just filled mug as she fell into the seat between them. She smiled gratefully at him as he leant over to pour himself another mug.<p>

"Morning sunshine," Kurt grinned, Rachel smiled meekly as she sniffed the coffee, she slowly removed her glasses and Kurt just shook his head.

"This is a ridiculous question, but how did I get to bed last night?" Blaine grinned and exchanged glances with Kurt, who smirked at Rachel. She instantly regretted her question as Kurt leant forward, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Rachel, my dear. If it wasn't for my darling Blaine here, you'd still be lay across the sofa, in a very dignified way I might add," he added sarcastically. Rachel groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"I'm so embarrassed," she sighed, "I didn't do anything else though, did I?" she asked, causing Blaine and Kurt to exchange glances again, "Oh no, what was it?"

"Well…" Blaine started, trying to think of the best way to put, "You kind of threw up on me."

"What? Oh god, I'm so sorry!" she said quickly, as Blaine shook his head.

"It's cool, I wasn't keen on that shirt anyway," he laughed.

"I loved you in that shirt," Kurt added; as Rachel wished that the earth would just swallow her there and then.

"I feel so embarrassed, I'll replace it, I promise," Rachel assured Blaine who refused the offer point blank.

"So what caused you to drink so much?" Kurt asked as Rachel took another sip of her coffee, slowly reviving herself, her gaze flicked between Blaine and Kurt, a wave of anger washing over her. She couldn't believe that she'd actually resorted to drink to forget about her problems with Jacob and her director. She'd always managed to keep professional about such things, if she was getting so stressed now, what was going she going to be when she was working on Broadway?

"I guess I just let everything get on top me," she admitted quietly.

"Is it still that bad?" Kurt added, the concern coming through finally, Blaine looked at him fondly before turning to face Rachel.

"Yeah, but I guess it'll be worth it when the show opens," she smiled, not really wanting to go into too much detail, something that Blaine picked up on instantly. Kurt on the other hand, not so much, he was desperate for some more gossip, but thankfully for Rachel, Blaine changed the subject.

"We bumped into Kurt's friend Mercedes, last night," he started.

"Oh really, how is she? I haven't seen her in so long?" Rachel asked, Blaine looked a little stunned until Kurt explained that Rachel had met Mercedes a couple of times when they working together on one of her designs.

"Well Kurt told her about me moving in, and she suggested that we have party to celebrate," Rachel took another sip of her coffee as she contemplated the idea. It had been so long since she'd been to a party, she'd been incredibly busy at school recently, a party sounded a really good idea right now.

"Sounds good to me," she smiled, causing Kurt's face to light up, "Any suggestions on dates?"

"We haven't discussed that yet," Kurt grinned, clasping Blaine's hand happily, "But it would have to be soon, it would ridiculous to have the party a month after you'd moved in," Rachel giggled and Blaine nodded in agreement.

"How about this weekend then?" Blaine suggested, Rachel shrugged and Kurt shook his head firmly, before reminding them both of their plans for the weekend.

"We can't this weekend," he started, "It's Finn and Mia's wedding," Realisation hit Blaine like a ton of bricks.

"That's this weekend? Man, I forgot about that." Blaine admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Please don't tell me you haven't worked out what your wearing yet," Kurt said in an exasperated tone, Rachel laughed as she stood up and headed over to the sink to clean her mug. Blaine sighed loudly and nervously glanced in Kurt's direction.

"Even I've decided what I'm wearing," she giggled, "With the help of Kurt of course."

Kurt's invitation had stated that he could bring a guest, of course Blaine would be his number one choice, but since Finn was marrying Blaine's sister Mia, Blaine was automatically invited, and Kurt didn't like the idea of Rachel sitting alone in the apartment.

"Well, it looks like we're going shopping this afternoon," Kurt grinned, clapping his hands together like an excited child.

"Have fun you two," Rachel giggled. Blaine just smiled as Kurt dragged him out of the kitchen, not really looking forward to the shopping experience – it wasn't the shopping he was dreading; it was the wedding in general.

Mia was Blaine's older sister, it wasn't that Blaine had any objections to the wedding, Finn was a cool guy, they got along really well, the only awkward thing about the ceremony was that Finn was Kurt's brother. Finn and Mia had met due to Blaine and Kurt being together all the time as children. They'd begun dating 2 years ago and announced their engagement after a year of being together. Blaine hadn't really seen his family in the last twelve months, going to school in New York had been a big step for him, and he simply couldn't afford to fly back home every other weekend. The last time he'd seen everyone was at Christmas, and even then it was briefly, as he'd decided to spend Christmas with Kurt last year. Even then it was awkward for Blaine. It wasn't as if he particularly disliked Kurt's family, they'd been pretty much on board when they started their relationship, it's just things had started to change for them both since the engagement had been announced. Blaine supposed it was because once Finn and Mia were married then Blaine and Kurt would technically related, but not close enough for them to stop seeing each other. Blaine tried really hard not to let it get to him, but sometimes Kurt's family made it extremely difficult for him.

Blaine usually enjoyed shopping with Kurt, it was something he was extremely passionate about, and Blaine was all about making sure Kurt was happy, but not today. It was getting him down.

"I'll just have this one?" Blaine suggested pointing to the nearest suit,

"That one? Really Blaine?" Kurt sighed, obviously not impressed by his choice.

"I don't know, you choose one," Blaine sighed.

"Blaine, you're acting like a child," Kurt sighed, as he scanned through the selection of suits on offer.

"And you're acting like my mother," Blaine retorted, a cheeky expression on his face. Kurt frowned, but knew that Blaine was right, so within seconds his frown turned into a smile and he clasped his boyfriend's hand.

"Come on," he smiled before walking over to the rack on the other side of the room.

"This one?" he suggested, Blaine shrugged then nodded.

"Perfect!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks once again for all of the alerts, it makes me smile to know that they're are still people out there reading this and seeming to enjoy it :) Anyway, I went to see Glee live last night, OMGlee, it was amazing so I figured that I'd post the next chapter in some form of celebration :D**

**Usual disclaimer, I don't own Glee or the characters, but I kind of wish I do, but there you go :P**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>Rachel sighed as she paced across her room, her phone attached to her ear.<p>

"I'm sorry you feel that way," she stated calmly, her director had been on the phone for almost an hour now, constantly pointing out all of her flaws to her, something that Rachel could have done without whilst nursing a severe hangover.

"I assure you that I'm dedicated to the role, I've given everything to it," she explained, "Have you spoken to Jacob about this?" She rolled her eyes as the director stated that Jacob had far more experience than she had, and that Rachel should be grateful to be sharing the stage with him.

"Okay fine, we'll work on it at rehearsals later," Rachel decided to give up her argument, as the director seemed to be pretty satisfied by her response. She hung the phone up and threw it angrily onto her bed. She let out a scream but regretted it instantly; her head still not back to normal. She sat down on the edge of her bed and placed her head into her hands, breathing deeply, no matter how many time she tried not to let him get to her, he'd throw another round of criticism at her. She lifted her head and glanced around her room, before taking a deep breath and reaching over and turning her CD player on, she smiled as the music filled the room, now she felt content. She stood up and began sorting through her bedroom, she'd been inspired by Kurt's clear out, and decided that a clear out was exactly what she needed to clear her head.

"And now all you need is a shirt," Kurt announced as he and Blaine walked arm in arm through the busy streets.

"I've got plenty of shirts though," Blaine stated, clearly tired of shopping now, "Let's go and grab a coffee?"

Kurt frowned and sighed at Blaine.

"Okay, something's wrong, you never turn down the opportunity to go shopping," he stated, Blaine sighed and shrugged as he pushed his hands into his jacket pocket.

"This is about the wedding isn't it? You're worried about seeing my parents again aren't you?"

"No...Well yes…I don't know," Blaine mumbled, Kurt smiled and stepped closer to him again, placing his arms around Blaine's waist and pulling Blaine closer to him.

"Forget my parents, I love you, and I want to be with you, we've known each other much longer than Finn and Mia, if it wasn't for us, then they wouldn't be getting married in the first place." Blaine smiled and nodded.

"I guess so, it's just that…" Kurt shook his head and placed his finger on Blaine's lips.

"That's enough of that Blaine," Kurt grinned, Blaine nodded and pulled Kurt in for a kiss.

"What would I do without you?" he asked.

"Well for one thing you'd be wearing a hideous suit to the wedding, and that definitely wouldn't do," Kurt said, causing Blaine to laugh.

"Come on, let's go home." Kurt grinned, taking Blaine's hand in his as he led the way.

"I do have plenty of shirts though." Kurt rolled his eyes at that last comment, determined not to get into an argument with Blaine over his wardrobe.

When they arrived home, a pile of discarded clothes and other items that were typically found in Rachel's bedroom greeted them. Blaine gave Kurt a confused look, who just shrugged it off.

"She's probably having a bad day, you'll get used to it. She has a clear out, it helps her to focus, or something like that," he explained, walking into the lounge, Blaine nodded staring at the pile of clothes on the floor, Rachel was nowhere to be seen.

"So, about this party, when do you want it?" Kurt asked as Blaine walked into the lounge, Blaine shrugged as he collapsed onto the sofa, he picked up the TV remote and turned it on, flicking through the channels.

"Well, we're at the wedding over the weekend, so I was thinking one day next week, maybe Wednesday?" Blaine shrugged, seemingly tuned out of the conversation, more interested in the film that was on the TV screen. Kurt noticed straight away and rolled his eyes.

"So, I'll call Mercedes and tell her about Wednesday then?" he asked, becoming a little annoyed with Blaine's lack of interest.

"What about Wednesday?" Blaine asked, turning away from the TV screen, Kurt gave him an exasperated sigh.

"The party!" he said, "Is Wednesday okay?" Blaine laughed and nodded.

"Wednesday is great," Kurt nodded before walking out of the room to call Mercedes and give her the details, leaving Blaine alone.

A few minutes later, Rachel walked into the lounge and seemed to be surprised to see Blaine sitting in front her, she quickly wiped her eyes, but it was too late, Blaine had already noticed that she'd been crying.

"Hey," he said smiling.

"Hi, how long have you been back?" she asked, obviously been too caught up in her cleansing ritual to notice anything else.

"Not long, Kurt's on the phone to Mercedes, apparently we're having the party on Wednesday." Rachel nodded, and smiled at him.

"Do you think it would be okay, if I invited some friends of mine?" she asked wearily.

"Of course is it," Blaine laughed, "You really don't need to ask you know." Rachel blushed and relaxed in his company once again. It wasn't long before Kurt returned, beaming from ear to ear.

"Well that's that sorted, Mercedes is making some calls as we speak," he paused as he noticed Rachel sitting on the chair opposite Blaine. "Having a bad day are we?"

"The director has been on the phone again," she explained, Kurt's expression softened as he crouched down to Rachel's level.

"Don't listen to him Rachel, you're so talented, and you're going to kill it on opening night. Blaine and I will be there, cheering you on. Won't we Blaine?" Blaine, who had been staring at Rachel the whole time, nodded and Rachel smiled gratefully at them both.

"Thanks," she smiled, "I should go and finish cleaning my room, it's in a bit of a mess." She stood up and Kurt hugged before she gave Blaine a sad smile and retreated back to her bedroom. It didn't take long for Kurt to join Blaine on the sofa, and begin talking animatedly about the party next week, Blaine could see how excited he was, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for Rachel. For a brief moment he thought how pretty she looked when she let people see her vulnerable side, but he put that down to sympathy. He was gay, and absolutely, positively in love with Kurt.


	7. Chapter 7

**I promise things are moving along now, I know there hasn't really been much Raine interaction so far, but I promise just stick with it, it's coming soon :) **

**As always - I don't own Glee because if I did, Blaine would be in ND already and Sam and Puck would be shirtless in pretty much every scene they were in ;)**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>As the weekend of his sister's wedding loomed, Blaine was becoming increasingly more nervous. This is mainly due to Kurt's parents being there and the awkward comments that would arise throughout the day. Kurt had tried to reassure him, but Blaine couldn't get past this. Of course, he was also anxious about his sister getting married, he had no doubt that Finn or Mia would not show up, but he'd always been close Mia, so of course he was anxious for her.<p>

Soon it was Saturday morning, and Rachel was driving them to the wedding venue. Blaine had found a shirt to wear, but Kurt was moaning that it looked too plain – to Blaine of course it was just a normal white shirt. Throughout the car ride, Blaine was clutching tightly to Kurt's hand, who was telling him off for checking his watch every couple of minutes.

"Will you relax, there's no way that we're going to be late, Rachel's driving, and she has to be early for everything," Rachel giggled in the front seat and Blaine smiled at them both.

"I'm fine," he lied, Kurt raised and eyebrow and Blaine laughed, "I'm fine!" he protested.

"We're only a couple of minutes away now, I think" Rachel said trying to reassure him,

"Well that just fills me with confidence," Blaine snapped, instantly regretting it as the anxiety filled the pit of his stomach. Rachel sighed quietly and focused her attention back onto the road.

"Rachel, sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," Blaine sighed, Kurt squeezing his hand gently.

"It's okay, I can understand you being nervous," Blaine smiled gratefully at her, still feeling guilty that he'd taken out his anxiety on her.

It was ten minutes later when they finally arrived; Rachel found a parking space before the three of them walked towards the hotel. Rachel admired her surroundings as they neared the hotel. It had been specifically designed to host weddings. Because it was summer, it made the whole thing look even more beautiful, the flowers were out in bloom and the birds were singing in the bushes near by.

"They made a good choice," she commented, "It's beautiful."

"They're lucky the weather is so good today," Kurt added, "It would be a disaster if it had rained, especially as they're holding the ceremony outside." Blaine smiled, the anxiety now affecting his power of speech.

Rachel slowed down, allowing Blaine and Kurt to walk in front of her, she didn't feel comfortable walking into a room where didn't know any of the people inside. As they approached the doors, Blaine paused and took a deep breath, Kurt peered inside, it was Rachel that had noticed him stop and gave him a reassuring smile.

"It'll be okay," she told him, Blaine smiled before the two of them walked inside to catch up with Kurt.

Unfortunately Rachel wouldn't be attending the actual ceremony, her invite was to the reception afterwards, not that she minded, she was grateful for the invite anyway. Kurt spotted his brother inside and dragged Blaine in his direction.

"I'll go and check in, I'll catch up with you two later," Rachel shouted as the two boys walked off in the opposite direction. Blaine waved goodbye and Kurt dragged him eagerly in the direction of his brother. Kurt tapped Finn on the shoulder, who slowly turned around. Grinning when he saw his younger brother.

"Kurt!" he hugged his brother tightly, before noticing Finn stood awkwardly to the side.

"It's good to see you again, Blaine," he said holding out his hand, Blaine shook it and began to feel a little more relaxed.

"I hear you two have moved in together?" Finn asked, "What's it like having your own place?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it out own place, my friend Rachel, she still lives with us," Kurt explained.

"But it's still nice living together," Blaine reassured Finn, who had a confused expression on his face, "So where's Mia?"

"Upstairs getting ready apparently," Finn told him, "Apparently, I'm not supposed to see her until the actual ceremony."

"No it's bad luck Finn!" Kurt scolded him, causing Blaine to laugh as Kurt began fussing over his brother's choice of wedding attire.

"Are mum and dad here yet?" Kurt asked, Finn was just opening his mouth to speak when

"Kurt!" Blaine froze as he heard the familiar voice of Kurt's mother getting closer to them.

"It's good to see you again," she told him, gripping tightly onto him, Finn glanced at Blaine, who was yet again stood awkwardly at the side. He gave him a slight smile, before Kurt's mum let go of him.

"You should come home more often, we don't see you enough these days," she exclaimed,

"Well, I've been busy mum, Blaine and I have moved in together now," he smiled, glancing in Blaine's direction. Kurt's mother, who hadn't even acknowledged Kurt's boyfriend's presence, gave him a quick glance, before focusing her attention on her own son again.

"Come to think about it, there's someone I'd like you to meet," she grinned at Kurt, he sighed loudly and clasped Blaine's hand, knowing that she was likely to introduce him to another guy.

"Maybe later mum," he told her.

"But…" Kurt glanced at Finn for help, who simply shrugged, pretty useless Kurt thought. He squeezed Blaine's hand tighter, and decided a change of subject was in order.

"So, where's dad?" he asked.

"Oh, he's talking to Mia's parent's." she told him, ignoring the fact that they were also Blaine's parents. They'd only be talking for a few minutes and it was already getting to Blaine.

"Excuse me a few minutes," he said before walking to opposite side of the room, looking for his own parents. Of course Kurt followed after him, Blaine had only made it halfway across the room before clasping his hand and stopping him from walking further.

"I'm sorry about my mum," he said quietly, Blaine sighed and squeezed his boyfriend's hand.

"You don't have to apologise," he sighed, trying to fake a smile

"I love you," Kurt smiled

"I know," Blaine smiled as he kissed Kurt, "I'm going to head over to my parents though, is that okay?" Kurt nodded and watched as Blaine walked away, before reluctantly returning to Finn and their mother who was chatting.

"I thought you'd be upstairs helping Mia get ready," Kurt sighed lazily.

"Don't be ridiculous, it's only the bride's family who help her, not only that but she's got so many people helping her already, hair stylist, make up artist…." Kurt nodded as his mother listed all of the people that were assisting Mia in getting ready, and had a sneaking suspicion that she's hired all of those people to prevent her from interfering.

"Oh look, it's you're Aunt Annie." She walked away, leaving Finn and Kurt alone to talk again.

"So, is Blaine okay?" Finn asked, and Kurt sighed, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair.

"Yeah, it's just mum, you know?" Finn nodded, understandingly and tried to reassure Kurt.

"It's probably because after today, you're technically related?" Finn suggested and Kurt just laughed.

"Not that closely related, he'll be my sister-in-law's brother," Finn laughed and patted his brother's shoulder.

"She'll come around,"

Blaine let out a sigh of relief when he saw his parents chatting with Kurt's dad at the far end of the room. He hadn't seen his parents since Christmas, although they spoke every weekend, his mother felt it was far too long.

"Blaine!" she shrieked, hugging him tightly, just as Kurt's mum had done minutes ago. "How are you? What's it like living with Kurt?"

"I'm fine mum, and it's great," he smiled, feeling slightly more comfortable. He glanced over to Kurt's dad, who smiled him. So he politely smiled back.

"Glad to hear that you and Kurt are happy," he smiled, Blaine nodded and smiled back at him, glad that he was only having to deal with one of Kurt's parents at a time, although he wasn't quite sure whether he was being sincere, or just putting on an act in front of Blaine's parents. Even so, Blaine didn't care; he didn't feel as awkward as he had done when he was faced with Kurt's mum.

"Well, I'd better go and find Kurt," Blaine smiled, "He'll be wondering where I am."

"Can we get you a drink first son?" his dad asked, Blaine smiled gratefully, but shook his head.

"Not right now, but thanks," his dad grinned, as Blaine crossed the room again in search of Kurt.

When he eventually found he was standing exactly where he had left earlier talking to Finn and his mum, only now he was stood on his own, checking his appearance in his compact mirror. Blaine wrapped his arms around his waist, Kurt jumped and turned around in Blaine's arms, smiling when he realised it was his boyfriend.

"I forgot to tell you earlier," Blaine whispered, "I love you to," before planting a gentle kiss on Kurt's lips.

"I know," Kurt grinned, kissing Blaine one more time.

"So where's Finn?" Blaine asked, as they continued to hug.

"He'd outside, apparently it's only going to be a few minutes until we're called." Blaine nodded and hugged Kurt tighter.

"Good, it's getting difficult avoiding both of our parents," he laughed, causing Kurt to smile, Kurt released himself from the hug and took Blaine's hand in his securely.

"Oh, I saw Rachel heading to our room with Bell services whilst you were talking to your parents, I suspect she'll stay in her room until later," Kurt explained, Blaine nodded and sighed quietly.

"I just feel bad that she's on her own all afternoon," Kurt shrugged at Blaine's concern.

"She'll be fine, she'll probably watch a movie or something," he said dismissively. They continued to make small talk for a few minutes, Blaine laughing as Kurt continued to criticise the attire of most of the wedding guests. Someone tapped Blaine on the shoulder, he turned around quickly, never releasing Kurt's hand and smiling when he saw his mum.

"Everyone's heading outside now," she told him, before noticing that he was holding Kurt's hand. She smiled at her son before flicking her attention to Kurt.

"Hello Kurt," she smiled, "It's good to see you again, New York obviously suits you,"

"Nice to see you again, to," Kurt smiled politely.

"I hope you've been looking after my Blaine?" she laughed; Kurt nodded and squeezed Blaine's hand tighter.

"I sure have," Kurt smiled, "Nothing but the best for Blaine."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight :D If I'm honest, this is probably my favourite chapter so far, and it's certainly the longest. I know it's been a long time coming, but I feel that this chapter finally moves things along and the real story can begin. I know I've kept you all waiting this long, but it was important to give you all some sort of back story.**

**I don't own Glee - if I did Blaine would be at McKinley and probably wouldn't have declared that he was "100% gay" when he did.**

**enjoy x**

They made their way outside and Kurt thought that it looked it more beautiful than the inside; rows of white chairs had been set out on the grass, with an arch way at the front of them with Finn standing nervously underneath it, with his best man at his side appearing to be giving him to some last words of advice. Blaine caught his eye and smiled at him, before taking a seat next to his mum. Kurt was just about to sit on the other side of him, when his own mum caught his arm.

"Come sit with me," she ordered.

"But I was going to sit with Blaine,"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're supposed to sit on the grooms side," Blaine sighed and looked away, he knew that Kurt was expected to sit with his own family. There was no point in him arguing, she'd win in the end. She always did.

"Mum – stop making a scene!" Kurt hissed, "Today isn't about you getting your own way, today is about Finn and Mia, don't ruin their day by arguing, I'm sitting with Blaine." She frowned at him, before storming to the front row and sitting down next to Kurt's dad. Blaine smiled gratefully at Kurt when he sat down, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered, Kurt just shrugged.

Suddenly as if from no where, the music started playing loudly, and everyone stood up and turned around to see Mia stood at the back of everyone, with Blaine's dad at her side. Kurt glanced around and the scowl that had been on his mum's face only seconds ago, had disappeared and been replaced by a warm smile. All eyes were on Mia as she walked down the aisle, and everyone was smiling. As she took her place next to Finn and the bridesmaids sat down, a young man rushed down the aisle and took the seat next to Kurt. Giving him a warm smile s he sat down, Kurt smiled politely, and Blaine noticed the expression on the young man's face as he turned to face Kurt's mother, who gave him a thumbs up. He rolled his eyes and tried not to think about it, as he focused his attention back to Mia and Finn.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Finn and Mia," Kurt smiled as he clasped Blaine's hand, and all the anxious feelings that Blaine had been holding onto that morning suddenly disappeared, happy for his sister, happy for Finn, and most of all, happy that he was here watching them get married with the one person he loved the most.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride," Blaine smiled happily as he watched his sister kiss her now husband, and squeezed Kurt's hand gently. He looked to his side as he heard his mother sniff quietly, before glancing over at Kurt's mm who was doing the same thing. Everyone stood up as Finn and Mia walked down the aisle together hand in hand, and as everyone began to move, Blaine noticed the young man at Kurt's smile eye him up and down, and Blaine told himself he had nothing to worry about, Kurt would never show an interest in him – would he? He was so deep in thought, that he didn't even notice that people were beginning to move around him, until Kurt began to walk away, still holding Blaine's hand, so essentially dragging Blaine along with him.

Rachel was sat alone in her room, she wasn't entirely sure why she'd done it, but she'd bought her script along with her, against Kurt's wishes of course, and had been flicking through it for the majority of the afternoon. She could hear the celebrations of the wedding happening downstairs and she sighed quietly as she finally closed her script. Her phone beeped on the dresser so she leant across the bed to answer it, smiling when she saw her friend's name flash across the screen.

"Hey Tina," she smiled, lying back down on the bed.

"How's the wedding going? Met any fit guys yet?" Rachel rolled her eyes but smiled at her friends curiousity.

"Tina I've been sitting alone in my room all afternoon," she stated, "Besides, I'm not looking for a guy right now, I want to concentrate on school."

"Rachel, school is almost out for the summer!" Tina laughed, "I know the perfect guy for you..."

"No more blind dates!" Rachel laughed, still remembering the last blind date that she went on. It had been horrific, Kurt had set her up with a friend of his, and Kurt was still apologising for it. Although, in Kurt's defence he hadn't known him very long and hadn't really seen his true colours, Rachel had, and she'd never Kurt forget it. Mark, just like Kurt was a fashion intern, who was extremely passionate about his craft, just like Rachel was about her performing abilities. Kurt had thought that it was a match made in heaven, it was also aided by the fact that Kurt had not long started dating Blaine, and Kurt felt sorry for Rachel still being single whilst he was so happy in love. The date had been a complete disaster, he'd arrived to pick her up late, and spent the first fifteen minutes criticising the apartment, when she had finally managed to drag him away, he questioned her choice of outfit, which angered Kurt when she filled him in, as Kurt had worked incredibly hard to ensure that she had the perfect outfit. The rest of the night was spent talking about Mark and his life; he didn't even express an interest in Rachel and her future goals. Needless to say Rachel never called him again, and Kurt had made a promise never to set her up on a blind date again.

"I know the last one was bad, but this guy is perfect for you," Tina stated, "He plays football with Mike, but he's also very musical," This sparked Rachel's interest a little, although she pretended not to be too bothered.

"I'm not sure Tina, I'm perfectly happy on my own," she replied.

"Yeah, and that's why you're at a wedding, which is probably full of lived up couples, and your cooped up in your room," Tina laughed and Rachel groaned, knowing that Tina was right, as always.

"Fine, bring him to the party on Wednesday, and I'll meet him. But I'm not promising anything," Rachel smiled, happy at the prospect of meeting a new guy, but also pleased to have her friend of her back due to her single lifestyle.

"Great, you won't regret this Rachel. His name is Noah Puckerman, and he's gorgeous!" Tina exclaimed, to which Rachel could hear Mike complaining in the background, Rachel giggled and walked over to her bag looking for her outfit for the reception, knowing that it was nearly time for her to catch up with Blaine and Kurt.

"I'll leave you to it," Rachel giggled.

"I'll see you Monday Rachel, and have fun!" Rachel laughed as she hung up her phone and started getting herself ready, throwing her play script into the bottom of her bag, hoping to forget about it until Monday evening.

Blaine suddenly found himself in a dark room, it was pitch black outside and there was a small buffet on the right hand side of the room, with a DJ playing classic wedding music on the other side of the room. Blaine had a drink in his hand, and had been sitting alone for the last fifteen minutes, because Kurt had been pulled away yet again by his mother.

"There's someone I'd like you too meet," she'd told him, practically dragging him away, "His name is David, and I think you'll like him a lot,"

Kurt had refused, but obviously hadn't tried hard enough, as the two of them were now stood on the opposite side of the room talking to the young man who had been checking him out earlier. Blaine took a large swig from his beer bottle and let out a frustrated sigh, before lifting his eyes and noticing Rachel lingering at the doorway, she was scanning the crowd, looking for a familiar face. He smiled and walked towards her, causing her to smile when she saw him.

"Wow Rachel, you look beautiful tonight," he told her; Rachel smiled and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you, Kurt helped me choose the outfit," Blaine shrugged, and let out a sad sigh, that Rachel immediately picked up on, "So, where's Kurt?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"In there," he shrugged, "His mum pulled him away to speak to some guy," Rachel nodded, noting the hurt in Blaine's voice.

"You okay?" she asked him, placing her hand on his arm comfortingly. Blaine smiled gratefully and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled, although his smile didn't reach his eyes like it always did.

"Don't worry about Kurt," Rachel told him, "He loves you far too much to even look at anybody else," Blaine nodded and stared back into the dark room.

"Hey do you want to get a drink?" he asked her, Rachel nodded and Blaine led her back into the dark room, where people were already a little drunk and dancing completely out of time to the music that was playing loudly in the background, Blaine ordered himself another beer and Rachel a glass of wine before the two of them sat down together. Blaine glanced across the room, and took another large swig of beer when he noticed Kurt and David talking in the same spot that he'd left them, when he'd spotted Rachel. He downed his drink before turning away angrily.

"Hey, slow down," Rachel told him, patting his arm as she spotted Kurt talking on the opposite side of the room. Blaine ignored her, as he finished his drink and stared at the now empty bottle in his hand.

"I'm fine Rachel," he grinned, "You're just being slooow, drink up!"

After having two drinks, Blaine was now becoming a little tipsy, but Rachel didn't say anything to him, instead she just sat quietly and finished drinking her wine. Blaine watched as Kurt's mum walked away from him and David with a satisfied look on her face, Blaine expected Kurt to come over and join him and Rachel, so he waited, but Kurt didn't move, instead he continued to talk to David. He attempted to take another swig of his beer, before realising that his bottle was empty, he stood up and walked over to the bar to get himself another beer and bringing Rachel another glass of wine. It wasn't long before that drink was half empty, Blaine glanced around the room again, noticing that Kurt and David had moved out onto the balcony – out of view. Blaine stood up angrily, making Rachel jump as he moved so abruptly.

"I can't watch this, I'm not staying anymore," he announced, finishing the rest of his drink before slamming the empty bottle onto the nearby table. He turned to walk away, before stumbling over a near by chair.

"I'll help you to the room," Rachel smiled, placing her empty glass next to Blaine's discarded bottle. She wasn't really much help, seeing as she'd had three large glasses of wine, but she still didn't seem as drunk as Blaine did. Rachel linked arms with Blaine, as he mumbled on about Kurt and David as they headed towards the room. It took a while to get up the stairs, but they eventually made it. Blaine leant against the wall, still mumbling about Kurt and David, as Rachel fumbled in her purse for the room key. Blaine walked inside and lay across the bed, Rachel giggled as she followed him, closing the door behind them.

"Is youuuur room as nice as mine?" Blaine asked, laughing as Rachel sat opposite him.

"Actually, this is my room too," she explained, biting on her lip, "There was a mix up, so we only got one room, I did argue with them, but they gave us a foldaway bed, so I'll sleep on there, you and Kurt can have the bed,"

"Oh nooooo," Blaine exclaimed, sitting up before feeling dizzy and lying down again, "It looks uncomfor…uncomfort…not comfy,"

"I think I'll be okay for one night," Rachel smiled.

"No! You can sleep in the bed with Kurt and me!" Blaine grinned, causing Rachel to smile again, "There might be even more room if he stays with DAVID." Rachel shook her head and stood up heading over to the mini bar, looking for something else to drink.

"You know that would never happen," Rachel smiled, as she pulled out two small bottles of vodka and two cans of coke, "Kurt will be back here, and I wouldn't want to get in your way,"

Rachel poured out two vodka and cokes and handed one to Blaine, before downing her own and refilling it.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Blaine asked, before hiccupping.

"You're already drunk," Rachel giggled.

"Oh yeah," Blaine paused, before he and Rachel collapsed into a fit of giggles. Rachel perched herself onto the edge of the bed, where Blaine was still lying down and attempting to drink from the glass. So spilling the most of it.

"You're wasting that," Rachel giggled, as Blaine sat up and turned to face her properly, spilling the rest of his drink

"Ooops." He laughed, causing Rachel to laugh to as she took the glass out of his hands.

"You know, if Kurt does dump you for David, I'll look after you," she told him, giggling. Blaine stared her, silent for the first time since they'd arrived back at the room.

"I'd like that very much," he said quietly, their eyes meeting,

"You know, since Kurt and David are together, maybe it would be okay for us to…" Rachel trailed off as she burst out laughing again, as she realised how ridiculous she sounded but Blaine wasn't laughing anymore, he was sat staring at her, not breaking eye contact with her, he watched as she laughed before he grabbed hold of Rachel and pulled her closer towards him, his lips crashing down on top of hers. Rachel dropped the glass that she was holding and wrapped her arms tightly around Blaine, as if Kurt had really left Blaine, and the two of them were now free to give in to what they'd been feeling for each other. Blaine pulled at the zip at the back of Rachel's dress and she let it slip to the ground, as Rachel tugged at Blaine's shirt, the two of them only breaking away to lift it over his head, and throwing the shirt to the floor. The pair collapsed back onto the bed, exploring each other's body for the first time, unaware at what was happening downstairs.

"Look, you're a nice guy and everything, but I have a boyfriend," Kurt stammered awkwardly, as David closed the gap between them both. He'd been out here for a while now, and had expected Blaine to come looking for him, but he never did.

"What he doesn't know, won't hurt him," David grinned, moving in to kiss Kurt again.

"I've already told you, I have a boyfriend and he means everything to me, I love him,"

"Then why are you out here with me, instead of inside with him?" David asked, and Kurt paused as he asked himself that exact question, realising suddenly how Blaine must've been feeling.

"I've got to go," he said quickly, before heading inside scanning the crowd for Blaine, when he couldn't see any signs of him, he headed towards the reception, assuming that he'd gone back to the room.

"Excuse me, I booked two room for the Hudson-Anderson wedding, I was wondering whether you could give me the room numbers," the woman behind the desk pressed the keys before pausing and turning back to face Kurt again.

"I've only got one room here, but I remembering explaining it to your friend, Miss Berry is it?" Kurt nodded, "There was a mix up with the rooms, we only had you booked in for a double room, room 485, because of the wedding, there aren't any free rooms available, but we've set up a foldaway bed in the room for Miss Berry."

Kurt sighed, but thanked the woman none the less, to say he was disappointed that Rachel was sharing the room with them was an understatement, he'd been looking forward to spending the night with Blaine, and what he had in mind didn't include Rachel in the slightest. He approached the fourth floor and headed directly for room 485, he knocked on the door and waited for a response, nothing. He knocked louder, and still no one came to the door, he sighed loudly and leant against the door. He was certain that he didn't want to head back downstairs, he'd only have to deal with David again and he certainly didn't fancy that. So he sat on the floor and waited for Blaine and Rachel to come back, completely unaware of what was going on only metres away from him.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to everyone who has read this so far, it seems that the last chapter was the most popular so far, and you all seemed to like it :) There were a few questions about Kurt not being able to hear through the bedroom door whilst Blaine and Rachel were together. I know it sounds pretty farfetched, but I've been in a similar situation and I never actually heard anything. I'm also basing this on the fact that the hotel was in fact really busy and there was a lot of background noise.**

**Thanks again for sticking with this, and from now on we'll be looking at Raine's relationship a lot closer :) Please don't give up on this, I have a good idea of what's to come in this and I'm pleased with the direction that it's heading in. Again, if you can, please review on this, I really appreciate them and they do make me smile, and it's always good to have feedback :)**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>Blaine woke up the next morning with hardly any recollection of the previous evening, only that he had a lot to drink, which probably was to blame for his splitting headache. He rolled over to cuddle with who he presumed was Kurt, but had a shock when he spotted the mass of brown hair in front of him. He frowned, and blinked quickly to adjust his vision and try and work out what the hell was going on. He leaned over and gasped loudly when he realised that it was Rachel, whose chest was covered by the sheet that they were sharing. He lay back onto his pillow and let out a confused sigh, before realising that as well as sharing a bed with Rachel, he was in fact naked. Startled, he jumped out of bed and scrambled across the room, searching for his clothes. He'd managed to spot his trousers that lay discarded near the window and was pulling them on, when Rachel began to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, and she spotted Blaine stood at the foot of the bed pulling his trousers on. She jolted upright, her lipstick smudged across her cheek and a mass of tangled brown hair covering her face, as she started remembering the slightest things from the previous night. Blaine stared at her, unable to meet her eye – he'd begun to remember a bit more. Rachel rubbed her head, trying to ease the pounding that was causing her so much pain.<p>

"Did we…" She asked, with a nervous laugh, unable to say it out loud. Blaine looked at her, then turned away embarrassed.

"I think we did," he mumbled, picking up the broken glass that Rachel had dropped the night before, more images of the night before flooding his mind. "Are you…." He started before coughing out of embarrassment, he steadied himself and turning to face her "naked?"

Rachel paused for a moment; she closed her eyes and nodded. Blaine cursed loudly and began pacing around the room, noticing his shirt lying underneath the bed. He grabbed it and threw it on.

"Could you…." She started, she paused again and took a deep breath, "Could you look away please?" she asked, and wishing that she'd had said the same thing the night before. Blaine nodded and turned his back on her. Rachel pulled the sheets around her to cover herself even more and managed to stand up and wrapped the sheet tighter around her, creating a make shift dress, before coughing to let Blaine know that she was finished. The room was filled with an awkward silence as she walked across the room. Blaine stood up when she neared him, and began to pace again. Rachel sighed quietly as she started searching in her bag for her shower things. Blaine was struggling to accept what had happened between them,

"How can you be so calm?" he asked her.

"You think I'm calm?" she hissed, "I'm freaking out! Oh God, what are we going to do?" she looked at him helplessly and he shrugged. "I'm going for a shower," she hissed,

"I need time to think," he told her, already rushing towards the door, he opened it so fast that he barely had time to register that Kurt was sat on the floor in front of him.

"Kurt?" he shouted louder than he really should've done, but desperately hoping that Rachel had heard him, "What are you doing?" he asked as he helped him to his feet, Kurt stretched his back and looked at him, confused.

"I was waiting for you to come back," he told him,

"Come back?" Blaine asked him in confusion, "How long have you been out here?"

"All night," Kurt shrugged, "I came looking for you last night. I knocked on the door, when no one answered I assumed that you hadn't come back to the room yet,"

Blaine felt a punch to the stomach, realising what he and Rachel must've been doing when Kurt was knocking on the door. He felt physically sick.

"I must've fell asleep," Kurt said quietly, "When did you get back, why didn't you wake me?" "Rachel and I….we had an early night," he said quickly, wincing as he said those words, "Not together, separately, we had an early night separately," he stuttered, he felt as if he was digging himself into a hole, but luckily Kurt just laughed at him and walked into the room, Blaine following quickly behind him, he closed the door behind Kurt and glanced around the room. Before noticing Rachel walk in from the bathroom, a towel covering her body, and one wrapped tightly around her hair. She gave Blaine an apologetic smile, and no matter how hard Blaine tried not to, he couldn't help thinking how beautiful she looked. Luckily Kurt didn't pick up on the awkward tension between them.

"Morning Rachel," Kurt smiled, "I didn't see you at the party last night, did you enjoy yourself?"

Rachel shot Blaine a glance, before facing Kurt again. "Oh yeah, I had a really good time actually. What about you?"

"It was okay," he sighed as he opened his bag that Rachel had left on the floor and began searching for a clean set of clothes "Except for being dragged to the balcony with David,"

Blaine winced as he started to remember the incident, the incident that had led him to drink in the first place, the incident that had cause him to sleep with Rachel. Clean clothes in hand, Kurt turned to face Blaine.

"I'm so sorry, I know what it must've looked like, but nothing happened, and nothing ever will, I'd never do anything like that to you," Blaine gave him an awkward smile, as he began to feel guiltier than ever.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Blaine said, then Kurt made him feel ten times worse by hugging him and kissing him gently. Blaine tried to ease his body, but he felt so tense, but luckily Kurt didn't notice.

"Are you finished in the bathroom now?" he asked turning to face Rachel, "I missed my night time moisturising routine last night, so I've got some catching up to do," Rachel nodded and Kurt scurried off into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Blaine and Rachel let out a sigh of relief, and Blaine held his head in his hands.

"What the hell were we thinking?" he groaned, Rachel bit her lip and stared at him.

"Blaine, I…" Rachel started, unable to form a sentence

"We need to talk about what happened," Blaine sighed, still struggling to remove his eyes from Rachel's towel covered body.

"Not right now," Rachel sighed, "We will though, but we can't now, not with Kurt in the next room," Blaine nodded and Rachel sighed

"I need to some air and for Christ's sake, put some clothes on," he hissed, before opening the door and storming out, leaving Rachel alone to face Kurt.

Hundreds of questions were running through Blaine's mind, questions that he never thought he'd ever have to answer. He knew that he had to speak to Rachel about what had happened between them, he had questions that needed to be answered, the most awkward question of all, but also the most questions of all. Could she be pregnant? It was difficult enough trying to deal with the fact that he cheated on Kurt with Rachel of all people, but the possibility of him being dad after a stupid mistake was too much for him to think about right now.

For Blaine and Rachel, the journey home was ridiculously awkward. Kurt was bombarding them with questions that they both were having difficulties answering. Rachel noticed the expression on Blaine's face and tried to change the subject.

"So how many people are we expecting on Wednesday?" she asked, Blaine giving her a slight smile in gratitude.

"Not too many, I've invited some friends of ours, Mercedes is inviting some people, and then there are your friends from Juilliard," Rachel nodded,

"I've only invited three people, well two really but Tina is bringing someone for me to meet," she said, instantly regretting it.

"Oh really? Do tell," Kurt grinned, Rachel silently cursed at her own mistake, but realised that she had to see it through.

"She's trying to set me up with one of her boyfriend's friends, apparently he plays football with Mike," she explained, she glanced in her rear view mirror and noticed Blaine staring incredulously at her.

"That's great Rachel, you never know. He might be the one," Kurt grinned, "Blaine and I will have to interview him first, to make sure he get our seal of approval," he laughed and Blaine and Rachel smiled awkwardly at each other.

They finally arrived home, which came as a result for Blaine and Rachel who could at least attempt to avoid each other. Rachel retreated to her bedroom, barely making an appearance, not that Kurt really noticed, he was too busy planning the party on Wednesday with a distracted Blaine at his side, desperate for answers from Rachel.

"So how was the wedding then?" Tina asked as they finished their rehearsal for the evening, Rachel had agreed to go out for drinks with her, just another way that she could avoid Blaine. Tina was surprised when Rachel had suggested the impromptu night out, but had agreed none the less. When the subject of the wedding arose, Rachel felt a lump in her throat.

"Yeah, it was okay, I spent the evening comforting Blaine, and he was a little…." She paused as she remembered what she was really doing with Blaine that evening, her eyes misted over with guilt as she tried to erase the horrible images, "He was a little depressed, Kurt's mother was trying to set him up with another guy." she mumbled, unable to meet her friend's eye.

"Oh my god, you had sex didn't you?" Tina asked loudly, a few people turned around and Rachel hid her head in her hands, she's felt incredibly guilty about sleeping with Blaine, it wasn't something she planned on broadcasting,

"What? Blaine and me? Of course not," Rachel said quickly, downing the rest of her drink.

"Not with Blaine," Tina laughed as if it was the most ridiculous suggestion ever. "You hooked up with somebody at the wedding didn't you?" Tina asked, a huge grin on her face, Rachel rolled her eyes and ordered another drink from the bar.

"I did not have sex at the wedding," Tina nodded, but Rachel could tell that she wasn't entirely convinced. Rachel didn't blame her. She was an incredible actress, but even she was having difficulty pretending that everything was okay when she was dying every time that she saw Blaine and having to deal with the lies that she was telling by pretending that everything was normal between them, when in reality it was far from normal.

"Well, I'm glad. Noah is really looking forward to meeting you on Wednesday," Rachel smiled absently, in her haste to forget about the incident with Blaine, she'd also found herself blocking out everything else. She couldn't ditch Noah now; it would only add suspicions to her already weird behaviour. Tina spent the rest of the evening talking about Noah and how much he and Rachel had in common, they also spent the night discussing what they were going to do when school was over for the summer, and Rachel relished at the opportunity to discuss anything that wasn't related to the wedding or relationships.

Blaine hadn't had a single chance to speak to Rachel since the wedding, he was positive that she was avoiding him. He was sure that she was determined to make sure that they were never left alone, just so Blaine couldn't even attempt to talk about it. He was sure that she just wanted to leave it in the past. Wednesday came around and Blaine and Rachel still hadn't spoken. Blaine was hoping that it would be put into the past and forgotten about so he could continue to live a happy life with Kurt – but he kept remembering parts of that night, and he hated to admit it, but they weren't bad memories.


	10. Chapter 10

**Now we're getting somewhere :D Here's the next chapter, and Kurt gets to finally host his party and we finally get to meet the Famous Noah Puckerman ;). I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying this, I promise you the Raine isn't over yet.**

**Oh yeah, just a shameless plug really, as well as this story, I'm also writing another story Puckleberry centred, but with a Raine friendship. It's called International Directions and I'd really appreciate it if you was to read that as well.**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>The drinks had been brought, the music was set, and now Blaine, Rachel and Kurt were waiting anxiously for their guests to arrive. The door knocked, and Rachel jumped to her feet desperate to leave the room, but Kurt was quicker and he ran to the door before her.<p>

"Mercedes, hey!" Rachel heard him say happily, as Blaine leant across to talk to her.

"Rachel, this is serious, we need to talk,"

"No we don't," she said, shaking her head defiantly, putting on her best stage smile as Kurt walked back into the lounge with Mercedes and Sam following closely behind him.

"You two remember Mercedes right?" Kurt smiled, walking into the kitchen with the drinks that Mercedes and Sam had bought with them. Rachel smiled and hugged Mercedes as Blaine stood up to shake Sam's hand.

For a while, the four of them sat talking as they waited for the rest of the guests to arrive, Rachel dying inside as Kurt sat talking, with his hand clasped securely around Blaine's, yet the whole time Blaine was staring at her. There was another knock at the door and Rachel sprung to her feet, not stopping to give anyone else a chance, as she rushed to the door.

"Oh thank god!" she whispered when she saw Tina smiling on the other side. Tina laughed as she saw the look of relief on her friend's face.

"We're not early are we?" she asked, Rachel shook her head and pulled her friend into the house,

"So where's Mike?" Rachel asked as the Tina hung her jacket in the hallway.

"He's rehearsals are running late, he's coming straight after though, he's bring Noah with him," Rachel nodded and her lip when she heard laughter coming from the lounge. She had wanted to stay as far away from them as possible, but Tina wouldn't hear of it, walking into the lounge with Rachel forced to follow after her.

Luckily, Rachel was kept pretty busy throughout the evening, as there seemed to be a permanent knocking on the door, it seemed to be working for her plan to avoid Blaine, fortunately for her.

"Rachel!" Tina shouted, as Rachel pushed past a crowd of people, people that she'd never seen before. Rachel smiled at her friend, noticing that Mike had arrived with who she assumed was Noah in tow. "Rachel, this is Noah Puckerman, Noah, this is Rachel,"

Noah smiled and held out his hand, "I prefer Puck," he smiled, Rachel smiled at him, seemingly impressed by her friend's choice.

"I've actually always liked the name Noah," she admitted, and Noah smiled at her. Rachel felt the connection straight away; the first time she'd felt a proper connection with a guy. She didn't want to even consider Blaine, what they'd had was a complete mistake, and would never, _ever_, happen again. Rachel glanced across at Tina who gave her a smug smile. Rachel rolled her eyes and led Noah into the kitchen to get him a drink. As the two of them walked across the lounge, a slow song started playing and Rachel spotted Kurt dragging Blaine into the middle of the floor, Blaine spotted her instantly, and Rachel turned away, linking arms with Noah and speeding off into the kitchen.

Blaine sighed as he watched the people in the lounge soaking up the party atmosphere; Kurt had spent the majority of the evening talking with Mercedes about the new summer line that he was currently working on, whilst she filled him on what she was currently on. Then he spotted Rachel walk across the room, he knew he had to talk to her, make her acknowledges that something had really happened towards them, so he darted towards her, but when he had finally managed to force his way through the crowd she was standing next to Tina in deep conversation with who he assumed was Noah. He frowned and turned his back on her, pushing his way through the crowd again, that was when he spotted Kurt walking towards him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kurt asked him, Blaine smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He lied, Kurt nodded and sipped at his drink, as the music changed to a much slower song, "Oh my god, I love this song, come dance with me!"

Blaine didn't have a chance to respond, Kurt was already dragging him into the centre of the room. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and cuddled against him, and the two of them began slowly swaying in time with the music, that was when Blaine noticed Rachel again, linked arms with Noah and heading towards the kitchen. She paused momentarily and locked eyes with him, before shaking her head and leading Noah towards the kitchen. Blaine sighed and leant his head against Kurt's and attempted to block out the world around him, he inhaled deeply and smelt the familiar smell that was Kurt, he sighed quietly and Kurt lifted his head to meet his eye before leaning in and kissing him. In that moment he forgot all about Rachel and wished that he and Kurt could be like this forever, but the song finished and they were brought back to reality surrounded by the rowdy group of drunken people in their lounge. Kurt clasped Blaine's hand and the two of them walked in the direction of the kitchen, where Blaine spotted Rachel and Noah talking intimately, Rachel noticed him almost immediately and rearranged herself so Noah blocked her view of him completely. He sighed and picked up a bottle of beer from the counter and took a large drink from it.

It wasn't long before the kitchen became too crowded and a fight managed to break out between 3 guys that Blaine didn't recognise, and by the look on Kurt's face, he didn't either. Blaine attempted to break the fight, but there were simply too many of them, and Kurt wasn't really much help, there was only so much shouting he could do. Rachel noticed the commotion and peered around Noah to get a better look. She let out a shocked gasp when she noticed Blaine and Kurt in the middle of the brawl, Noah picked on up on her expression and smiled at her.

"You want me to help your friends?" he asked, sincerity in his voice, she nodded and smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you Noah," He gave her grin before walking into the middle of the kitchen and pulling the guys apart,

"Okay, party's over guys," he announced, leading them towards the door, Blaine glared at him as he found himself pushed to the side of the commotion.

"I could've handled it," he mumbled, sending glares in Noah's direction, luckily no one picked up on this, as Kurt was following Noah towards the front door, making sure that nothing was broken on the way out. He let out a frustrated sigh and picked his drink up from the counter, as he glanced around the room he noticed Rachel stood awkwardly, now alone, as soon as she caught his eye she made a run for it, but this time Blaine wasn't letting her get away. He followed her into the lounge, and rolled his eyes as she tried to lose him in the crowd, but he was ready for her.

Rachel groaned as she rushed through the lounge, she noticed Tina and Mike talking happily in the corner of the room, and hurried away from them, she wanted to be on her own, Noah had been her comfort blanket for the evening, whilst he was around no one would disturb her, especially Blaine. But now he had gone and Blaine was pursuing her, she let out a sigh of relief as she managed to get outside of the lounge and into the quiet hallway, she turned around and rested her head against the wall, hoping that she'd managed to lose Blaine and that now he was back to talking to some friends or even better Kurt. She gasped loudly when she felt herself being dragged by the hand down the hallway, when she turned around she realised that it was Blaine, she opened her mouth to say something but he beat her to it.

"Just hear me out okay?" he hissed, she closed her mouth and nodded, as he pulled her towards her bedroom. He opened the door and Rachel walked inside, Blaine quickly following behind her and closing the door. He let out a relieved yet anxious sigh, realising that this was the first time that they'd been alone since that night. He turned around to see Rachel sat on the edge of her bed, staring at him anxiously.

"You can't keep avoiding me, you know," He rubbed the back of his neck, not entirely sure what to say to her. Rachel sighed quietly, watching his struggle to form a sentence, she shifted across the bed and Blaine cautiously sat next to her.

"I'm not avoiding you," Rachel said quietly, unable to meet his gaze. Rachel knew that they'd have to have this conversation eventually, but she'd tried to hard to push all of the memories out of her mind, but now that she was sitting this close to Blaine again, they all came rushing back.

"I guess you know what I want to talk about," he said quietly, Rachel nodded

"I just want to forget about it," she confided, positive that she saw a flicker of disappointment on Blaine's face, but didn't mention it. She'd assumed that he'd bought her here to tell her the same thing that she'd told him, now she wasn't so sure. "We need to forget it, for Kurt's sake! It would kill him if he ever found out," she cried, leaving Blaine feeling incredibly awkward, as he patted her back trying to comfort her. As soon as Rachel felt the touch of Blaine's skin against her back, all those feelings of that night came rushing back, she remembered the way that he'd kissed her, he'd been so forceful yet passionate at the same time – that was when she realised that it wasn't the alcohol that had made her feel like that. As if Blaine was reading her mind, he leant forward and smiled at her.

"It was a pretty amazing night though, wasn't it?" he grinned, Rachel felt herself smiling and agreeing with him, before she came to her senses and jumped to her feet, pacing across the floor.

"Why are we even discussing this?" she hissed, "You're in love with Kurt!"

Blaine sighed and lay back on her bed, letting out a frustrated cry, she'd asked him the same question that he'd debating ever since that night. He was gay, he'd always been so sure of his sexuality, sure he'd made out with a few girls in high school, but it was never anything serious, and usually due to alcohol consumption, but since Saturday night, he hadn't been able to get Rachel out of his mind.

"Don't you think I know that?" he asked, lifting his head, Rachel paused and turned to face him, "If I wasn't confused before, then I am now, I love Kurt, I really do, but no matter how hard I try I can't forget what happened that night, and if I'm honest, I'm not sure if I really want to,"

Rachel sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed again, trying to keep a little distance between them, but it was difficult on a single bed.

"Blaine, I don't know what to say…" Rachel started before she felt Blaine's lips capture hers, he'd half expected her to pull away immediately, but as he felt her ease into the kiss, he was pretty sure that she was enjoying it just as much as he was. Rachel hated the fact that she wanted to kiss him, she kept thinking about what they were doing to Kurt, but she couldn't help it, it felt so amazing being with him. It was as if she was addicted to him, she'd had one taste and that was it, she was hooked.

Rachel was the one to eventually break the kiss; she pulled away and stared at him. Blaine didn't know what to say, he looked at his hand and then up at her face again.

"I'd better get back to the party, Noah will be wondering where I am," she said quietly, standing up and straightening out her dress. Blaine followed her towards the door and kissed her again, closing the gap between them and they were soon pressed against the door locked in a passionate kiss. Rachel pulled away and sighed quietly, before opening the door and walking down the hallway and back into the lounge, not stopping to give Blaine a second glance. She found Noah, talking to Tina and Mike in the far corner of the room, she felt a pang of guilt as she realised what she'd done, Noah had been so nice to her, and while he was trying to break up the fight in her home, she was off making out with her friends boyfriend. She put on her best smile and walked over to join the group.

"Hey, where did you go?" Noah smiled, when she joined the group; Rachel shrugged and smiled at him.

"I was just checking that no one had was using my room as a hotel room," she lied, "Did you manage to get rid of those Neanderthal's?" Noah laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, we left them fighting outside. Your friend, Kurt?" Rachel nodded, "He can really shout," Rachel laughed, and suddenly everything was back to normal.

Blaine groaned loudly as Rachel shut the door behind her, he threw himself onto the bed, burying himself into her pillows. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he didn't even know why he was doing it, he was perfectly happy with Kurt. He'd always been happy with Kurt, but he'd never felt as alive as he did when he was with Rachel. There was just something different about her, something special. After a while, he got up and rearranged her pillows, before checking his appearance in the mirror, his hair was out of place, he usually kept himself pretty well groomed, but now it was falling out place, his curls coming through. He knew he should've been bothered, but he didn't have the energy to care anymore. Instead, he sighed quietly and snuck out of Rachel's bedroom, and back into the lounge.

"There you are, I've been searching everywhere for you!" Blaine was caught off guard when his boyfriend pounced on him, he smiled and Kurt rested his head onto his shoulder.

"Are you okay Blaine, you seem a little out of it," Kurt asked, full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a little crowded in here," Blaine lied, which Kurt seemed to buy, obviously his mind on other things.

"I've seen Rachel's boy toy, he's pretty hot," Kurt laughed, "Come on, let's go and introduce ourselves," Before he had a chance to protest, Kurt was dragging him across the room. Rachel lifted her head and her eyes left Noah's and met Blaine's for a brief moment, before she smiled and turned away.

"Hey Rachel, aren't you going to introduce us properly," Kurt grinned, Rachel stared at him and then to Blaine, before clearing her throat.

"Oh…oh yes of course," she stuttered, "Noah, this is my best friend Kurt, and his boyfriend Blaine," there was that pang of guilt again, but she tried to ignore it and carry on as normal, "And this is Noah Puckerman," She watched as Noah shook there hands, and Rachel couldn't believe it as Blaine stood there just staring at her. Now things were becoming more awkward than ever for her.

Eventually people started to leave, this was mainly due to the lack of alcohol left. Noah left with Mike and Tina with the promise of calling Rachel and arranging to meet up with her again in the week, she'd nodded and felt even more conflicted. Could she really embark on a new relationship with all of this going on with Blaine, whatever it was that was going on with Blaine? The three of them headed to bed, deciding to leave the cleaning up until later that day, after all, it was already Thursday morning. Kurt fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, Blaine on the other hand lay awake, tossing and turning as thought about both Kurt and Rachel, he loved Kurt with all of his heart – he'd never been so sure of anything in his life, but he lusted after Rachel and he didn't understand why. He had Kurt, and Kurt was his whole world, but Rachel was something completely different and he kind of liked it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for reviews for the last chapter, they meant a lot. It's nice that you're all in support of the Raine.  
>Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much :D<strong>

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><p>Rachel got up at 3 o'clock and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water – she hadn't been able to sleep with all of the buzzing still going on in her head. She took a glass out of the cupboard and turned the tap slowly as to not make too much noise, she didn't want to wake Kurt or Blaine, she couldn't face either of them right now. She needed to think.<p>

As she sipped at her water, she looked around the kitchen and took in everything that she'd missed when she'd first walked in – her mind obviously on something else. Empty bottles and cans covered the floor, and there was sticky liquid in places, she didn't even want to think what that was. Now feeling fully awake, she began to clean up. Pulling out a bin liner, she started picking up the discarded bottles and cans, leaving the sticky patches until last, mopping them up once the floor was cleared of all rubbish. It didn't take her as long as she'd originally thought, and surprisingly the kitchen looked cleaner than it had ever done before. Not wanting to think about what state the lounge was in, she sat down again at the table and rested her head on her hands, but before she was fully relaxed, she heard a noise from the hallway. She sat up straight and waited for someone to make an appearance, not entirely sure who it was that she wanted it to be. She looked up and her eyes met Blaine's as he walked into the kitchen.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, walking to get him a glass of water.

"No, I've got too much on my mind," she sighed, there was a short silence as Blaine sat down opposite her.

"We need to talk some more about…" he paused as he noticed the terrified look on Rachel's face, "Don't worry, I left Kurt sleeping peacefully in bed." Rachel hated how he could read her so easily; she paused to consider what he'd told her before sighing quietly.

"Okay," she nodded; Blaine gulped quietly and stared at her.

"So about what happened that night…I err…I don't remember as much as I should, but I was kind of hoping that you could." He stuttered, Rachel stared at him, pretty confused.

"Could you be pregnant?" he whispered, and Rachel smiled at him, shaking her head.

"It's just that, I don't remember using anything…"

"I don't think we did," Rachel confided, "I um…I managed to take the emergency contraceptive pill, I thought it was the best thing to do," The look of relief on his face was priceless; Rachel couldn't help laughing at him.

"It's not funny, you don't understand how worried I've been, I'm not supposed to be having these kind of dilemma's,"

"It's okay," she smiled, before the two of them froze as they heard Kurt moving around in the hallway. There was complete silence for a few minutes, then they heard the toilet flush and some footsteps again, then another silence. They waited another couple of minutes, just to make sure that Kurt had definitely gone back to bed. There was nothing and Blaine thought that it was safe to speak again.

"I know what we did was wrong," he began, "But…but I can't help what I've been feeling. I can't help thinking about that night and how amazing it was."

"Don't!" Rachel whispered, as he reached across the table to clasp her hand inside of his.

"It wasn't just the alcohol that made me do it. If I could, I'd do it again, right now,"

Rachel let out a small smile as she leant across the table to kiss him, she caught him off guard but he soon eased into the kiss. She was so glad that he felt the same as her – yet it was a really bad thing. What they were doing was wrong, really wrong. It meant that they were able to carry on like this, with nothing standing in the way, now matter how bad it was and how guilty they felt about it. Suddenly they heard footsteps in the hallway and Rachel jerked away from Blaine immediately, moving as far away as possible from Blaine, so that Kurt wouldn't suspect a thing. Luckily, when Kurt appeared, he didn't seem to suspect anything, instead he was rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"What the hell are you doing up this early in the morning?" he asked,

"I was just cleaning up," Rachel smiled, "It was a real mess,"

"At 4am? You couldn't have waited until later?" Kurt asked in disbelief, as he slumped down into the chair next to Blaine.

"Well, I couldn't sleep," Rachel explained,

"And what about you, I woke up and you'd disappeared," Kurt asked, turning to face Blaine.

"I heard Rachel in the kitchen, I couldn't get back to sleep," Blaine lied, glancing in Rachel's direction.

"Well, I'm going back to bed, are you coming Blaine?" Blaine blinked and stared at Kurt before nodding and getting up to his feet. Kurt walked towards their room and Blaine waited a couple of minutes before turning back to face Rachel.

"We can't do this Blaine," she whispered, "You will get over this," She turned to walk away and he clasped her hand.

"What if I don't want to?" he asked and Rachel shook her head.

"You have to," she sighed before walking back to her bedroom. Blaine sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and heading back to his bedroom to join Kurt.

As he walked into the room, Kurt was waiting for him in bed, Blaine smiled at him and got in next to him.

"I'm sorry for waking you," he smiled, Kurt shrugged and rested his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"You didn't," he sighed happily, "I woke up and realised that you weren't there, that's when I realised you must've got up for a drink,"

He seemed to be wide-awake now.

"Well, I'm just glad I didn't disturb you," Blaine smiled, switching off the bedside lamp and sliding under the covers. There was silence for a while as they both attempted to get back to sleep. Then Kurt spoke.

"Blaine?"

"Yeah?"

"I can't sleep," he laughed.

"Me neither," Blaine giggled; he could feel Kurt sliding along the bed, closer to him. He turned around to see what he was doing, and when he did Kurt pressed his lips against his. Blaine kissed him with enthusiasm and tried to forget all about Rachel. Even through two sets of closed doors Rachel could hear Kurt and Blaine in their room. She put her head underneath her pillow and sniffed quietly as she tried to stop herself from crying. She tried to drown out the sound and desperately trying with all of his might not to feel jealous and wish that it was her in there with Blaine and not Kurt.

The next morning was extremely awkward for Rachel, they were all in the kitchen making breakfast, Blaine struggling to keep his eyes away from Rachel, who at the same time was trying to avoid his gaze.

"I take it you two didn't go back to sleep last night," she finally said, Kurt giggled and glanced at Blaine.

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked innocently, Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Well, there was enough noise coming from your room, you obviously wasn't sleeping," Kurt giggled and squeezed Blaine's hand.

"No, we couldn't sleep," Blaine smiled, but kept his eyes locked on Rachel as she turned her back on them and opened the fridge in search of milk. She sighed loudly when she couldn't find any.

"We're out of milk, I guess we'll have to take our coffee black this morning,"

"No, it's okay, I'll go and get some," Kurt smiled, getting to his feet; he picked up his keys and kissed Blaine on the cheek before walking out of the apartment. Rachel sighed loudly and sat down opposite Blaine.

"Blaine, we can't go on like, you haven't stopped staring at me all morning, he's going to start suspecting something," she sighed, Blaine nodded and the pair sat in silence for a few minutes. Absently, Blaine reached across the table and clasped Rachel' hand, she glanced down and their hands before pulling away and walking to the other side of the room.

"What we're doing is wrong, Kurt is my best friend, we can't go on hurting him like this," Blaine nodded and stood up and walked over to her, taking her by the hand once more.

"I can't help wanting to be with you," he sighed quietly, staring into her eyes and for the first time Rachel wasn't taken in, she let go of his hands and turned away from him, not wanting him to see her cry, it didn't work. He picked up on it straight away, turning her back around to face him, he pulled her closer to him and she rested her head on his chest.

"It's okay," he told her, gently patting her back, "I understand."

"I just can't do it," she cried, "No matter what we feel for each other – we can't do this to him,"

Blaine rubbed her softly on her back and kissed the top of her head.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay,"

After a few minutes, she stopped crying, but Blaine continued to hold her against him. She slowly pulled away; rubbing her eyes and sniffing quietly and when she looked Blaine was staring into her eyes again. She was almost pulled in – she almost kissed him – but she used all of the willpower that she had left to step away from him.

"I've got to get ready for rehearsals," she told him quietly before walking away, not stopping to look at Blaine – scared that she might go back to him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you once again for everyone who has been reading this and adding it to their alerts, and a special thank you to those who have spent the time to leave a review. As always it means a lot to me. I know that Raine isn't a very popular pairing, but I love them together**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>The next few days were agony for Blaine, he was sleep deprived, had terrible headaches, and hardly moved from his bed. It was like he was addicted to Rachel; she was taking over his life. Every so often, he'd hear her footsteps outside of his door and hope that she was actually coming by to check on him, she never did though. He wished that there were such a thing as a Rachel Berry patch, that way he would be able to slap it onto his arm and be rid of his addiction for good. He wouldn't need to simply glance at her to get that warm feeling inside. But unfortunately there wasn't such a thing, so instead he had to resort to locking himself in his bedroom, it was the only way he could be sure that he wouldn't go running to Rachel. Kurt was starting to worry about him – he didn't understand what was wrong with him. He had asked him on numerous occasions whether he wanted to see a doctor, but Blaine refused and told him it was just a headache. After knowing him for fourteen years, Kurt had never seen him like this. Blaine was hardly ever ill, he was always happy, no matter what. Ideas began to form in Kurt's mind; he actually started to believe that he'd done something wrong. He thought hard about anything that he could have possibly done, but every time he came up with nothing. He'd usually ask Rachel for some advice, but she'd been unusually busy with her rehearsals recently so he'd hardly seen her, and when she was at home she too locked herself away in her room, leaving Kurt stuck in the middle wondering what was wrong with Blaine, what was wrong with Rachel.<p>

Kurt was sat in the lounge watching some bad chick flick when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Rachel there please?"

"Yeah, hold the line please," Kurt sighed as he pulled himself from the sofa, and made his way down the hallway to Rachel's room. He knocked quietly and received a quiet 'come in', before pushing the door open to see Rachel lying on her bed.

"Phone call for you," he told her, she sat up slowly and took the phone from his hand, she waited for Kurt to leave the room before putting the phone against her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rachel, it's Noah," Rachel paused, with everything that had happened with Blaine recently, she'd completely forgotten about Noah.

"Oh hello Noah," she smiled, "How are you?"

"Yeah, I'm good thanks." He paused and Rachel lay back down, as she waited for him to continue, "Listen, I know it's pretty short notice, but I was wondering if you wanted to come and have a few drinks with us. Tina says that you've been really busy with rehearsals recently, I thought it would be good to take your mind of things for a few hours,"

Rachel contemplated this for a few minutes, Noah was a good guy and the thought of going out for a few hours that wasn't related to her show sounded a brilliant, plus anything that got her out of her room and away from Blaine and Kurt was a good thing.

"Sure, why not," she smiled, Noah told her where they were meeting up and Rachel promised that she'd see him soon, before hanging up the phone and searching her closet for something to wear. Usually she'd ask Kurt for his advice, but she was really struggling to be in the same room with him right now without cracking up, so she just resorted to using her own judgement and hoped that it would be enough.

Kurt waved goodbye to Rachel and sighed sadly, he hated being alone. Blaine had always been at his side, so when he wasn't there, he felt lost. He decided to go and check up on Blaine and see if he could make anything of his 'illness'. He pushed the door open and walked into the dark room, after allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, before noticing that Blaine was sleeping peacefully, he knew that he hadn't slept much recently, so instead of waking him, he perched himself onto the edge of the bed and gently stroked Blaine's hair from his face. He stared at him for a while, wondering what could possibly be wrong with him, then left him to sleep in peace. He needed his rest.

Rachel approached the bar and started scanning the crowd for Noah or Tina, she let out a relieved smile when she spotted them in the far corner. She politely pushed her way through the crowd and tapped Tina on the shoulder.

"Rachel! I'm so glad you decided to come, you've been really out of it the last few days," Rachel smiled and hugged her friend, she'd put everything down to the stresses of having a lead role, but Tina knew that something else was going on. As Tina turned around to pick up her drink from Mike, Rachel glanced at Noah who was smiling at her.

"It's good to see you again," he smiled, standing up, "You look amazing tonight,"

Rachel blushed and smiled at him, before he walked over to the bar to get her a drink.

"He likes you," Tina told him, Rachel laughed and shrugged.

"It's early days yet," Rachel smiled, her mind still back at the apartment, wondering how Blaine was feeling. She hardly noticed that Noah had come back and was handing her a drink.

"We were just telling Rachel, that you've hardly stopped talking about her since Wednesday," Mike grinned; Noah rolled his eyes and hit Mike on the back of his head.

"It makes up for all the times that you're pining over Tina when she's not around," he laughed, Mike laughed and placed his arm around Tina.

"I do not pine," he mumbled, as he kissed Tina's cheek.

"You're very quiet," Noah commented as Rachel sipped at her drink, she smiled and glanced up at him.

"Sorry about that," she smiled, "So Mike tells me that you're into music?"

Noah smiled and Rachel began to relax in his company once more.

Kurt was flicking through the latest copy of Vogue magazine when he heard someone walking into the lounge, knowing that Rachel had gone out, he smiled and turned around to see Blaine standing in the doorway.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked, not too sure whether he should approach him just yet.

"Better, I think." Blaine smiled walking towards him and joining him on the sofa, "I managed to sleep a little, I think that helped." Kurt put his arm around him, and Blaine gladly cuddled up against him. Kurt was relieved that Blaine appeared to be getting better; hopefully he'd be back to his old self by the end of the week.

Blaine was furious with himself for leaving his room; he'd left to find Rachel, but thankfully had found Kurt instead. He was so angry with himself for continuing to pursue Rachel, especially as she'd made it perfectly clear that she couldn't hurt Kurt anymore than they already had. Staying in bed hadn't helped him at all, he thought about Rachel more than ever. He cuddled Kurt tighter and used him as his very own Rachel Berry patch, using him to help him block out his feelings for Rachel, trying to force himself to realise that he had everything he needed in his arms. Blaine closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift of to sleep where he could do what he wanted and wouldn't hurt anyone along the way.

Later that evening, Blaine woke up with startled expression on his face, he glanced around the room and sighed, Kurt sat up and stared at him.

"Are you okay Blaine?" he asked, full of concern.

"Yeah," he mumbled rubbing the back of his neck, "It was just a dream." He told himself.

"What were you dreaming about?" Kurt asked.

"I…err….I don't remember," Blaine sighed quietly, unable to meet Kurt's eye, luckily it was dark so Kurt didn't notice.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm here now," Kurt smiled cuddling Blaine closer to him again. Minutes later the front door opened and they heard voices in the hallway, one was the familiar girly voice of Rachel, but the other was a lot deeper and husky. Blaine immediately sat up to see who Rachel had bought home with her.

"Sshhhhh, they'll hear us," Rachel whispered loudly, before giggling. Kurt rolled his eyes but couldn't help his curiosity. Rachel stumbled into the lounge before locking lips with Noah, he immediately pulled away when he noticed Blaine and Kurt staring at them both. Rachel turned around and giggled, blushing slightly when she saw Blaine was the one staring.

"You guys remember Noah, don't you," she giggled, "We won't bother you for long, come on Noah, I'll show you my room," she waved to Kurt and Blaine before leading Noah down the hallway and into her bedroom, where she slammed the door shut. She instantly locked lips with Noah again and the pair fell in a tangled mess onto Rachel's bed.

Blaine couldn't help the stab of jealousy that was running through his veins, Rachel had bought Noah home as if nothing had even happened between them, and as if that night in the hotel –that amazing night – had all been a dream. He then thought back to a few days ago, Rachel had told him that he had to move on, and that's exactly what she was doing. Reluctantly, he sunk back down into Kurt's arms, who was turning the volume up on the television to drown out the noise coming from Rachel's bedroom.


	13. Chapter 13

**I know I'm updating this really quick, but I'm enjoying writing this story so much that I can't help myself. I just love this pairing, they are perfect for each other, it's typical that Rachel finally finds a guy that is practically made for her and he's gay *sigh* I'm just hoping that they'll at least be a Raine friendship in Season three, I suppose we have to make do with that, as a relationship is pretty much out of the picture.**

**Anyway, here's the next chapter, please review and I hope you enjoy x**

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><p>Rachel was getting used to this feeling, and it wasn't a good one – waking up in a daze and only remembering snippets from the night before. She rolled over to see Noah sleeping peacefully next to her. For a brief moment she wished that it had been Blaine sleeping next to her, but she quickly pushed that feeling away and watched Noah sleep instead. She could hear Kurt and Blaine talking in the kitchen and wondered whether Blaine was feeling any better. He'd been locked in his room for the last few days, and Rachel had a sneaking suspicion that it was because of her. After the two of them had talked the other morning, Rachel had managed to convince herself that nothing was ever going to happen between her and Blaine again, she knew that she'd been right to end things – it would kill Kurt if he ever found out, there'd be no telling what he'd do them.<p>

Kurt had had an idea, and he hoped that it would bring Blaine back to his normal self.

"I've been thinking," Kurt started, as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "It's been so long that we went on vacation together,"

Blaine nodded in agreement, it was understandable though, they were both still in college and New York wasn't exactly the cheapest place on earth to live.

"So what's your point?" he grinned.

"Well…I've booked us a weekend in Vegas!"

"You've done what? How did you manage to afford that?" Blaine coughed.

"Think about it Blaine, we're in college, it's like a right of passage, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for us to spend some time alone together," Kurt explained, Blaine just smiled in amazement and thought about how lucky he was to have Kurt as his boyfriend.

"You're amazing," Blaine smiled,

"So that's a yes?" Kurt grinned, clapping his hands together in excitement.

"You bet it is," Blaine grinned as Kurt ran around the table to hug him tightly. Blaine smiled as he hugged Kurt tightly, he knew this was the perfect opportunity to rid him of his Rachel addiction; a few days without constantly seeing her should do it.

"We leave next Friday," Kurt told him, Blaine squeezed him tighter, he hadn't been this happy in what seemed like such a long time, and no one was taking his feeling away from him. Then Rachel appeared in the doorway.

"Morning," Kurt smirked as he took in Rachel's dishevelled appearance, as she headed directly towards the coffee, "Got your own back last night did you?" Rachel looked up from her coffee and stared at him in confusion.

"All the noise," Kurt laughed, "You certainly got your own back after the other night,"

"Oh, that," she said blushing.

"So, has Noah left now?" Kurt asked, obviously in the mood for some gossip, Blaine just stared at Rachel as she attempted to explain herself, he was desperate to hear what she had to say.

"He's in the shower," Rachel mumbled, trying to ignore Blaine sitting opposite her in just his boxers, which was proving incredibly difficult for her. Rachel caught Blaine's eye for a moment and he attempted to smile at her, she turned away quickly and tried to erase thoughts that were now running through her mind.

"Oh Rachel, you'll have the apartment to yourself next weekend," Kurt announced, "I'm whisking Blaine away for a weekend in Vegas."

Rachel choked on her coffee and only just managed to stop it from coming out of her nose.

"Wow – Vegas?" she asked in disbelief, as she wiped the coffee that she'd spit out.

'Yeah, we haven't had a vacation in so long," Kurt grinned, "You'll be okay on your own for a couple days right?" Rachel thought about that, sure a weekend without Blaine would be perfect for her to get over what ever feelings she had for him, yet on the other hand, a weekend without seeing him at all would be hell.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she smiled.

There was silence for a while; the only sound was the sound of the shower down the hall. The sound of the water stopped running and the three of them heard Noah walking back towards Rachel's room.

"I'll go and check if Noah's okay," Rachel mumbled, fed up of the awkward tension in the room caused by her and Blaine.

Kurt waited for Rachel to be out of earshot, before leaning across to Blaine.

"She seems to be regretting last night," Kurt whispered,

"You think so?" Blaine asked, trying hard to mask the hope that was in his voice.

"Well, something's getting to her," Kurt commented, "I wouldn't be looking like that if I'd work up to a body like that,"

"Nice Kurt," Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Kurt said, hitting Blaine playfully on his arm.

They finished their breakfast quietly, before Blaine stood up.

"Well, I'm going to go and get ready now that Noah's out of the bedroom, I've got a class later," Kurt nodded and started clearing the breakfast things away whilst Blaine headed down the hallway to get cleaned up. As Blaine walked down the hallway, he was met by Noah.

"Oh hey, Blaine right?" Blaine nodded, and Noah smiled at him, "I hope you don't mind dude, but I think I used some of your shower gel,"

"What? No, sure, it's cool," Noah nodded and patted him on the shoulder as Blaine walked past him. He then headed towards the bathroom; he pushed the door open and there stood Rachel, her hair dripping wet and a towel wrapped tightly around her body. This was unbelievable torture for Blaine; he simply couldn't resist her while she was stood there looking so utterly amazing. He turned to close the door and locked it, before slowly walking over to Rachel, not saying a word. Then before she could react he was kissing her.

"It's been torture," he said between kisses, "I can't stop thinking about you,"

Rachel kissed him with more passion than she'd ever done before and her towel fell to the floor, Blaine began to quickly undress before they moved closer to the shower. They continued to kiss and in their haste Blaine pushed Rachel against the shower wall, the water started running, cascading over their bodies.

After a few minutes there was a knock at the door, they both ignored it.

"Blaine," Kurt said from the other side of the door, "Have you seen my scrap book?"

They continued to kiss.

"No," Blaine shouted awkwardly over the sound of the shower, "Sorry,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He replied as Rachel started to kiss his neck, "I'll help you look for it in a minute, I'm…." he glanced at Rachel who shrugged, "I'm washing my hair,"

"Okay," Kurt shouted, but neither was listening.

Fifteen minutes, they both emerged from the shower, both dripping wet. Rachel picked up the towel that she'd been wearing previously and wrapped it tightly around her. She turned to kiss one last time.

"You go out first," she whispered, "I'll leave when I hear your door shut," Blaine nodded and quickly threw on his clothes; he turned to kiss her again and gave her one of his signature grins. He unlocked the door and peered outside. The coast was clear. He quickly made his way out of the bathroom and hurried down the hall to his room. Rachel sighed as she rested her head against the bathroom door, what had she just done? She'd had an amazing night with Noah, who was probably still sat in her kitchen, and here she was cheating on her best friend with his boyfriend. But no matter how guilty she felt, the feeling she got when she kissed Blaine certainly made up for it. She heard Blaine shut his door before quickly scurrying across the hallway to her own room.

Blaine let out a small smile as he heard Rachel shut her door, before he got changed into a clean set of clothes, then spotted Kurt's scrapbook lying on the floor at the bottom of their bed. He rolled his eyes as he picked it up.

"I found it, Kurt!" he shouted, Kurt came rushing into the room, smiling at him.

"Should I really ask where it was?" he asked, Blaine shrugged and pointed to the floor. "Thank you," he smiled, before pulling Blaine in close and kissing him. He paused and looked at him intently for a moment.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"You seem different," Kurt smiled, "No, not different. Back to normal,"

Blaine knew that it was because of his incident with Rachel in the shower. His craving for Rachel had been fulfilled – for now at least.

Rachel walked into the kitchen to find Noah sitting alone, drinking coffee. He turned to face her, smiling.

"You take longer to get ready than my sister, I didn't think that was possible," he laughed; Rachel smiled at him and sat down next to him.

"Sorry about that," she smiled, as Noah edged closer to her, not suspecting a thing. He placed his arms around her waist and kissed her. Rachel smiled as he kissed her, but noted that she didn't feel the same kissing him as she did kissing Blaine. Noah definitely wasn't a bad kisser – in fact, he was pretty amazing – but kissing Blaine was something entirely different. She desperately tried to push Blaine to back of her mind, although it had only been a few minutes, Blaine was all she could think about.

"Well, I'd better get going," Noah smiled, pulling away from her and finishing the last of his coffee, "I've got football practice, and I said I'd pick Mike up," Rachel nodded and smiled at him.

"I'll walk you down to your car,"


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's the next chapter guys, I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, I know I'm enjoying writing it. This isn't a major chapter, but I thought it was appropriate to have something like this happen. After all, Kurt and Rachel are still supposed to be best friends.  
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**The next chapter is one of my personal favourites, so I'm looking forward to reading your responses to that one :)**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>When Rachel arrived home that night after rehearsals, she was surprised to see that she had the apartment to herself again. She let out a quiet sigh and placed her bag on the floor and collapsed onto the sofa. Rehearsals weren't getting any easier, but she was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, they only had another week of rehearsals left before the show opened, and then she would have successfully completed her first year at Juilliard and be one step closer to her dream – a star on the Broadway stage. When Blaine and Kurt came home, Rachel was watching the television; Blaine walked in and sat very close to her on the sofa. He hadn't meant to, but when he did could feel her moving slightly, as she breathed in and out. Kurt followed him and sat at his other side.<p>

"So where have you two been?" Rachel asked, curiously

"I met Blaine after his class, and we decided to go and have a few drinks," Kurt explained, Rachel nodded and stared at the television screen.

"What about you Rachel, how are rehearsals going?" Blaine asked her,

"The same as always," she shrugged, not daring to look at him, "But opening night is just over a week a way now, so it should be worth it in the end." Blaine nodded and smiled at her. He was looking forward to seeing her perform on stage, he'd heard from Kurt before how talented she really was, but he couldn't wait to see it for himself.

"Well, we're looking forward to seeing it," Blaine smiled at her, and Rachel desperately tried not to blush at his compliment. Luckily Kurt didn't notice the shy glances between them, he just thought they were being friendly, why would he have any reason to think otherwise?

"I'm going to get a glass of water," Kurt announced leaving the room.

As soon as he was out of the room, Blaine turned to face Rachel properly and smiled at her, he clasped her hands and pulled her into a tight hug, Rachel buried her head into his neck, inhaling his familiar scent.

"Do you two want anything?" Kurt shouted.

"No thank you," Rachel shouted.

"I'm good thanks, Kurt," Blaine shouted before kissing Rachel gently on the lips. They heard Kurt heading back to the lounge and instantly sprung apart, pretending to have been watching the television the whole time.

"So, what are we watching?" Kurt asked, sitting down next to Blaine again. Rachel shrugged and passed him the controller.

"Nothing much," she grinned.

Blaine put his arm around Kurt and he cuddled up against him, Rachel glanced at them and felt a pang of jealousy rip through her body. She scooted along the sofa, and desperately tried to ignore them. A few minutes later, Kurt stood up and headed to the bathroom, Blaine listened carefully for the sound of the bathroom door shutting, before moving closer to Rachel and pulling her into a passionate embrace, only to find her pulling away to speak.

"Blaine, this is so wrong," she told him.

"I know, but I can't help it," he said kissing her again. He placed his hand at the top of her leg, and this time she didn't push away. She suddenly pushed herself further against him – which he wasn't ready for – Rachel lay on top on him as they kissed. Blaine wanted to take her back to her room and replay what had happened in the shower that morning, but he knew it would never happen. The toilet flushed, and Rachel reluctantly pulled herself off Blaine and readjusted her clothing, as Blaine scooted back across the sofa as Kurt walked in. Kurt sat down next to him and pulled Blaine in for a kiss, Rachel sighed quietly and stood up.

"I think I'm going to have an early night," she said quietly, "It's been a long day and I'm pretty tired,"

"Okay, night," Kurt said, not removing his eyes from the television. Blaine on the other hand glanced at her over Kurt's head and smiled at her, she returned the smile and walked alone to her bedroom.

Blaine had an early class the next morning, leaving Rachel alone with Kurt. She walked into the kitchen where Kurt was preparing breakfast for the two of them. She smiled gratefully at him as he passed her a plate.

"So, how are things between you and Noah?" Kurt asked, sitting opposite her.

"Yeah, we're okay," Rachel smiled, "He's a great guy, and we get along really well,"

Kurt nodded, and smiled, generally happy for his friend. She'd been single for the whole time that he'd known her, and had had to put up with Blaine staying over numerous times, the whole time playing the third wheel.

"What about Blaine and you?" Rachel asked, instantly regretting it as soon as she'd asked the question.

"Oh god, it's amazing!" He grinned, "I thought it might be awkward us living together, but we've known each other so long, it's as if nothing has changed. It's great being able to trust someone like that, I hope you and Noah get to that point,"

Rachel forced a smile and knew that if Blaine were here then he'd be feeling guilty as well. Kurt was one of her best friends; he loved Blaine more than anything in the world, yet they were both going behind his back. Rachel never wanted to feel this way about Blaine – she'd tried so hard to resist him – maybe things would have been different if he'd never moved into the apartment. But seeing him everyday, made Rachel want him even more. She shook her head trying to clear her head and quietly finished her breakfast. She cleared away her things and headed to her bedroom, she was finding it incredibly difficult being in the same room with Kurt without confessing everything and ruining his life.

A while later, she heard the front door open, that only meant one thing, Blaine was home. She felt her heart beat a little quicker when she heard his footsteps, but didn't act on anything. Instead, she carried on as if everything was normal. She heard Blaine and Kurt talking in the kitchen, and tried to concentrate on what she was originally doing, but it was getting difficult.

"Rachel?" she paused when she heard Kurt call her name,

"Yeah?"

"Come out here a minute, will you?" Rachel sighed and closed her laptop before walking into the kitchen. Blaine shot her an apologetic smile and Rachel nearly passed out, surely he hadn't confessed all to Kurt, without even talking to her first?

"Blaine needs to ask you a favour," Kurt smiled, linking arms with her. Rachel tilted her head as she glanced at Kurt, who was acting particularly nice.

"Kurt, I already told you, I'll find someone else, it's cool." Blaine smiled, but Kurt shook his head defiantly and sat Rachel down in the nearest chair.

"What's going on, you guys?" Rachel asked, becoming more and more concerned for her safety.

"Blaine's been let down at school, his duet partner has pulled out, she's got a throat infection and isn't allowed to sing for the next couple of weeks," Rachel sighed and glanced at Blaine who once again gave her an apologetic smile.

"Oh, well. I'm sorry to hear that Blaine," she smiled,

"Well, the thing is, everyone else is already paired up, and I thought that you could team up with him."

"What?" Rachel spun around so fast she thought she was going to fall off the chair; she attempted to compose herself when she saw Kurt's confused expression.

"Now, we know you're really busy with your rehearsals for your show, and you go to different schools, but Blaine really needs somebody to sing with, you'd be doing him a huge favour." Rachel sighed and glanced at Blaine, who shrugged at her, she rolled her eyes and then glanced at Kurt who was practically begging her.

"It's cool Rachel, I told Kurt you'd be too busy, I'll find somebody else." Kurt sighed and continued to stare at Rachel. She felt torn, she didn't want to be left alone with Blaine for too long, she knew what it led to, but she didn't want to upset Kurt anymore than she already was, and she also knew that it was dreadful when your performance was threatened by something that was completely out of your hands. Sighing quietly, she nodded and Kurt clapped his hands with glee.

"I'll do it," she said quietly,

"Really?" Blaine asked, surprised by her reaction, she nodded.

"Sure, why not," Kurt grinned and hugged her.

"What a perfect way for you two to get to know each other!" Blaine and Rachel both gave him a forced smile, knowing that they'd gotten to know each other pretty well already.

"Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'm running late," Kurt smiled picking up his own bag, Blaine stared at him and Kurt shrugged, "I wanted to see you before I went to work," Blaine smiled as Kurt kissed him on the cheek before walking out of the apartment.

Rachel and Blaine sat in silence for a few minutes, not entirely sure what so say to each other. Rachel expected Blaine to move towards her instantly, but he didn't. She sighed loudly and placed her head in her hands.

"I'm really sorry Rachel," Blaine eventually said quietly, "I mentioned it to him in conversation, I didn't expect him to suggest you, then when he did I couldn't get him to let it go,"

"This is getting ridiculous now," Rachel sighed, lifting her head and staring at Blaine, "What we're doing is so incredibly wrong, yet I can't seem to say no to you. What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing," Blaine smiled, reaching across the table and clasping her hand tightly inside of his, "There is nothing wrong with you, you're a good person Rachel,"

"Then why don't I feel like it?" she asked, and for once Blaine didn't have an answer for her, instead he just squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"You don't have to go through with it, you know," he whispered, Rachel sighed and pulled her hand out Blaine's grasp and stood up.

"I can't back out now, if I do he'll get suspicious, and then it's just more lies, I'm struggling to deal with the lies as it is," she sighed,

Blaine glanced at her and he could see how much all of this was taking it's toll on her. He sighed quietly as he got to his feet and walked over to her. He reached out and gently pulled her towards him, their bodies so close that they could barely breathe, Rachel sighed and gently ran her fingers through his thick black hair, Blaine smiled at her, and kissed her tenderly on the lips, placing his hands securely on her hips. Rachel was surprised at his tender behaviour, their kisses were usually so full of passion and fire, but this one wasn't. It was almost romantic, in fact if they hadn't been doing something so incredibly wrong, then it probably would have been. Rachel was the one to pull away; she stared into his eyes and smiled at him.

"I'm going to go now," she told him, removing herself from his grip, "Let me know what song you want to perform, okay?"

She didn't wait for a response, she was gone in an instant, and Blaine sighed as he watched her walkaway, hating the fact that Kurt was trusting, actually allowing him to spend even more time alone with Rachel.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for keeping up with this, I know some of you are concerned that Raine isn't going to be serious in this, and that it's purely a sexual thing, but please don't give up on it just yet, I promise we're going to see some more developments in the next couple of chapters. Oh and there's also a familiar face in this chapter, I couldn't not have him in this story, if any of who have read my first Glee story, you'll know that I certain soft spot for this guy, and let's face it, they should've really met during the Prom episode. That would've been pretty cool. Anyway I'm rambling now :)**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>The next day Rachel woke up with the apartment to herself, a note stuck on the front of the refrigerator, in Kurt's impeccable handwriting. <em>'Blaine and I had early starts this morning, see you later.'<em> It came as a relief to her, if she was honest. She still hadn't managed to figure out what was going on in her head regarding Blaine. Although he had made it clear that he wanted them to be together in some way, Rachel still wasn't sure, although resisting him obviously wasn't working, he had an affect on her that no other man had ever had. She made herself a quick breakfast and sat down embracing the silence in the apartment. It was the first time that she'd actually been able to sit and think about things properly, she was in a relationship with Noah, who she really liked, and he obviously liked her. She was happy when she was with him, when she was with him it allowed her to forget about Blaine and the mess that they were caught up in. But it wasn't enough for her and deep down she knew that, she knew that as soon as she was away from him her thoughts would be filled with Blaine instead of her own boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Blaine had been having difficulties concentrating in class, all he could think about was what he was going to perform with Rachel, and all the extra time they were going to have to spend together. But he was also thinking about Kurt, they'd always had a great relationship, even as friends, Blaine knew that he could tell Kurt anything, but now that he was hiding something from him, it was killing a part of him inside. The guilt was really sinking in now as well, as much as he loved Kurt, he couldn't help wanting Rachel and it was killing him inside. That morning, Kurt had made a real effort to spend some alone time with him. He'd gotten up much earlier than he needed to, just so they could go out to breakfast with each other and he could walk Blaine to class before leaving to go to work himself.

"Hey Anderson!" Blaine was pulled from his thoughts as he heard a familiar voice behind him. He grinned when he saw his friend, Jesse St James, approaching him. They'd met during their induction period at NYU and remained friends ever since, Jesse was a musical theatre major, and some of his music classes merged with Blaine's.

"I heard about Poppy," he smiled as he joined him at the table where Blaine was supposed to be prepping for his final. He closed the book and shrugged, "So what are you going to now?"

"I've actually found a new partner," Blaine explained.

"Seriously? I thought all of the singers with any talent would have been snapped up weeks ago," Jesse laughed, Blaine nodded in agreement.

"She doesn't go to NYU, she goes to Juilliard actually," he said, a smile preying on his lips as he thought about Rachel, Jesse picked up on it instantly.

"Oh really?" he smirked, "I never thought you had it in you," Blaine looked panicked and stared at Jesse.

"What are you talking about?" he hissed, Jesse laughed and shook his head.

"The girls at Juilliard are known for being incredibly stuck up, you must have some powerful persuasion techniques," Blaine rolled his eyes and began packing his books away.

"It's nothing like that," he sighed, standing up and walking out of the library, Jesse laughed loudly and followed after him.

"Come on Anderson, I know that look," Blaine sighed and continued to walk as Jesse caught up with him.

"She's a friend of Kurt's if you must know, and you would have met her, if you'd bothered coming to our party last week," Jesse nodded, and the two of them continued to walk through the school grounds.

"So, what's she like?" Jesse continued, Blaine paused as he thought about the best way to describe her. She was…there were just too many words out there for him to use to describe the way he saw Rachel.

"She's great," he settled with, that smile not shifting from his face. Jesse shook his head.

"Nice try, come on I want details. After all, you're my only competition vocally at this school, I need to check out the competition for future sing offs," Jesse laughed, Blaine rolled his eyes and started walking again.

"If you must know, her name is Rachel and she's a musical theatre major, she's the lead in their freshman show," Blaine stated with a satisfied grin.

"Wow, she sounds like some girl, I'll have to take her out some time," Jesse grinned, winking at his friend. Blaine gave him a weak smile.

"I doubt that, she's got a boyfriend, he plays football for NYU," he said, trying to compose himself and hide his true feelings – feelings of jealousy that he really wasn't in any position to have right now. Unfortunately for him, Jesse was a very observant young man. He stopped walking and stared at Blaine, he'd noticed a change in him for sometime now, but he'd put it down to the stress of finals coming up, but something about this conversation ha changed that assumption. Blaine paused when he realised that Jesse was no longer walking alongside him. He turned around just in time to see the look of realisation spread across Jesse's face like wildfire.

"Oh my god, you're into her, aren't you!" Jesse shouted, the panic started up again in Blaine as he rushed towards Jesse and pulled him into the nearest alleyway.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! In case you've forgotten I'm in a relationship with my _boyfriend_," he hissed frantically, "And I'd appreciate it if you kept your voice down, have you seen the size of Noah Puckerman?" The grin that had been plastered across Jesse's face disappeared almost immediately.

"No way, she's dating Puckerman?" he asked, "What have you gotten yourself into?" Blaine let out a frustrated sigh.

"You know what, I'm done talking about this!" he snapped, before storming away and leaving Jesse alone. He felt physically sick, if Jesse was able to sense that something was going on between him and Rachel, by just listening to Blaine talk about her, surely it would only be a matter of time until Kurt found out? Not caring about the rest of the work he was yet to finish, he walked out of the school grounds, he knew what he had to do, it would hurt him to do so. But the next time he saw Rachel, he was going to end whatever it was that was going on between them.

After cleaning up her breakfast things, Rachel changed into her sweatpants and picked up her iPod and keys and headed out for a run. The cool New York air hit her immediatley but she continued to move quickly, not taking any notice of the people that she was passing. She paused for a drink of water and stretched using a tree as a form of support, she let out a low sigh, and took another drink of cold water.

"Rachel?" She paused and turned around to see Blaine jogging over in her direction. She sighed quietly, but smiled at him none the less.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he finally caught up with her.

"I just needed to think, I couldn't do that in the apartment, what about you, I thought you had a class this morning?" She asked him, accusingly. He shrugged and sat down on the bench next to where she was standing, placing his bag on the floor.

"I did, but I was let out early, I always walk back this way," he explained. The truth was, he'd walked this way, trying to clear his own head. Rachel nodded and sighed quietly, before sitting down on the bench next to him. They sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the passers by. Blaine stole a glance in her direction, and couldn't help smiling at her.

"So what were thinking about?" he asked her quietly, Rachel closed her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath, composing herself.

"You and me," she said quietly, feeling guilty as soon as the words left her mouth, Blaine nodded and smiled at her, completely forgetting what it was he was going to speak to her about.

"Come on," he said standing up and holding his hand out to her, she stared at him and smiled.

"Where are we going?" she asked,

"We can't talk out here, and I know the best coffee shop," he laughed, Rachel giggled and took Blaine's hand as he lead her towards his favourite coffee shop. It surprised Rachel how natural everything felt when she was with him, as they walked she linked arms with him, and it felt right, it didn't feel awkward like she'd expect it to. They were able to talk about general things and not once did he seem bored and want to change the subject so it involved him, he seemed to really understand, a quality that was rare in Rachel's general choice of men. When they arrived at the coffee shop, Rachel grinned as she recognised the venue, she'd been here many times with her friends from school, Blaine was right, it was certainly one of the better coffee shops she'd been to. As they headed inside, Blaine told Rachel to go and find table whilst he queued for their order, not wanting to be seen, Rachel spotted a table in the far corner and made a beeline for it.

A few minutes, Blaine walked over and placed her coffee order on the table, before sliding into the booth himself. Rachel thanked him, and began pouring the sugar into her drink, she raised the cup to her mouth, but stopped when she noticed that he was smiling at her. She blushed and placed her cup back onto the table.

"What?" she asked, he shook his head and took a sip from his own cup.

"Nothing," Rachel nodded, and the pair returned to a quiet silence as the continued to drink their coffee.

"So, you said you were thinking about the two of us?" Blaine started after a while, Rachel nodded and smiled at him.

"You know, I feel so bad saying this, after all, you're with Kurt and have this amazing relationship, and who am I to destroy that? You've known each other your entire lives, it's just…" she paused, when she noticed Blaine sat smiling across the table at her.

"I'm rambling aren't I?" she asked, Blaine nodded and relaxed in his seat.

"It's cute though," he told her, she grinned and took another sip from her coffee again, "So, you were saying?"

"I know you're with Kurt, and I'm with Noah, who is lovely. It's just…" she paused again and Blaine had an understanding look on his face.

"When we're together it's different right?" he asked, and she nodded, Blaine smiled and leant across the table and took her hand in his. Rachel smiled and realised how comfortable this situation was for her, unknown to her, Blaine was feeling exactly the same. They didn't need to say anything else on the matter, they both knew that they were in to deep now, they couldn't finish what they'd started, they knew deep down that they needed to be together. It wasn't a deliberate decision, but it was something that could both agree on easily. The conversation soon changed to lighter things, Blaine filling her in on his upcoming finals and how he was frantically trying to decide on a song for them to perform. Rachel listened intently, genuinely interested in what he had to say. In turn, Rachel confided in him on what was really going with her rehearsals, and how sometimes she found herself wondering whether the stress was worth it. Blaine kept hold of her hand throughout the conversation, squeezing it gently as he comforted her.

"Do you realise that this is probably the first time we've actually had a proper conversation? You're kind of sweet when your not stalking me around the appartment" Rachel smirked, changing the subject, Blaine laughed and nodded.

"I think you're right, we were either too drunk or preoccupied before," he gave her a cheeky grin and Rachel smiled at him.

"And now he's back," she grinned sarcastically, there was a moment of silence between the pair before Rachel moved in closer to him.

" I need you to be honest with me," she whispered, Blaine nodded as he felt her breath against his skin, "What's going on here? I mean you're gay Blaine," Blaine closed his eyes and let out a quiet sigh, he lifted his head and his eyes eyes met hers, he opened his mouth to speak but he was beaten to it.

"Rachel? Wow what are you doing here?" The two separated immediatley as Tina and Mike walked through the coffee shop to join them. Blaine smiled and glanced at Rachel with a look that told her they'd talk again later.

"Hey T," Rachel smiled as Tina down next to her and Mike took the vacant seat next to Blaine. "You remember Blaine? He's one of my roommates," Blaine smiled as he reintroduced himself to her friends, trying not to dwell on the fact that he was introduced as a roommate and not Kurt's boyfriend.

"So what are you two doing here?" Rachel asked, trying to ignore the fact that Blaine's leg was now brushing against hers.

"Oh we thought we'd just grab a coffee," Tina smiled, "What about you two?" Rachel glanced at Blaine who gave her a relaxed smile.

"Rachel is singing with me for one of my finals," Blaine explained, "We were discussing song ideas," Tina nodded and Mike smiled at him.

"I know how you feel, my dance finals are coming up, it's so much work." Blaine nodded and the four of them eased into coversation, Blaine enjoying how well he was able to get on with Rachel's friends without feeling on the outside of the conversation as he mostly did when Kurt was talking to Mercedes.

"So Rachel says that you play football for NYU? We're having a pretty good run this year," Blaine started as he turned to face Mike, who nodded in agreement. "It's funny, I've been there all yeah and I've hardly ever seen you or Noah."

"Yeah, we tend to keep ourselves pretty busy, you play?" Mike asked, Rachel gave Blaine an intrigued smile.

"I used to play a little, nothing major, but I do enjoy going to watch the games though,"

"We've actually got a game tonight, you two should come and watch," Mike suggested, as Blaine contemplated the idea, Tina turned to face Rachel,

"I know Noah would love to see you again,"

"Tina, he's seriously going to kill you, you know that right?" Mike laughed; Tina rolled her eyes and turned to face Rachel again who shrugged.

"I don't know, I mean I haven't spoken to Noah since we all went out," Rachel explained, Blaine glanced out of the window and repressed the urge to roll his eyes, as he remembered that night vividly.

"Just come and watch the game, I'm always on my own in the stands, it'll be fun Rachel," Tina pleaded, "And Blaine and Kurt can come to, it'll be great, then we can go out when the game is over," Rachel sighed as Blaine returned his attention to the table.

"What do you think Blaine?" she asked, he grinned at Mike and Tina and nodded.

"I think it'll be fun, I'm in,"


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks for all of your reviews about the last chapter, they made me smile. I know some of you are feeling bad for Kurt at the moment, and to be honest so am I, but I love Raine so much, that it makes it that little bit easier to write this. Hopefully this chapter will help you all to understand Blaine's back story and to figure out what is going on in his head. Oh and for those looking forward to seeing Noah and Blaine interact, then I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next chapter. Sorry! As always, please review, they always make me smile and I'm so grateful for every single one.**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>Blaine and Rachel arrived back at their apartment later that afternoon, Rachel ready to continue their conversation that they had started earlier in the coffee shop. Unfortunately for her Kurt was already home, so she smiled and walked into the lounge as normal with Blaine in front of her.<p>

"Hey, I was wondering where you two had gotten to," Kurt smiled as Blaine sat down next to him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah sorry about that," Blaine smiled as he got himself comfortable, "I finished class and ran into Rachel, we went for a coffee and then Mike and Tina joined us, I guess we just lost track of time." Kurt nodded and smiled as Rachel sat down opposite the two of them.

"So how was work?" Rachel asked, Kurt rolled his eyes and sighed loudly.

"It was a total nightmare, apparently there was a problem with one of the displays, we've all got to go in tonight and fix it!" he moaned.

"But you've been working for weeks on that," she added, Kurt sighed loudly and nodded.

"I know, I put everything into it, and now they've decided to go in another direction." He paused and shot Blaine and apologetic glance, "I'm really sorry."

"Well actually, Tina asked us to go and watch Mike and Noah's football game tonight, I was going to ask you join us, but since you can't go…" he paused and glanced at Rachel, Kurt smiled.

"No that's fine, you two go. There's no point you both being stuck in, just because I have to work,"

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Blaine asked, and Kurt shook his head.

"You go and have fun," Kurt smiled; "Football isn't really my thing anyway," Blaine smiled and kissed his boyfriend gratefully.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you to," Kurt smiled back.

Rachel watched the scene in front of her; she found it incredibly difficult not to be jealous when she was around them. Yes, she knew that she and Blaine were the cheaters, but when she was with Blaine she felt wanted and appreciated. She felt complete. She let out a quiet sigh and retreated to her bedroom, to leave the young couple alone. The next few hours she tried to distract herself with anything that she could find, she reorganised her desk, even though she'd only sorted through it days ago, she spent a few hours working through her music library and sorting it into appropriate playlists, anything that could block out the image of Blaine and Kurt together. The afternoon continued and Rachel heard Kurt say goodbye to Blaine and then the front door closing behind. She sighed quietly and opened her closet looking for something to wear that evening, she'd never attended a football game in her life, she had no idea what to wear, so with her mind on other things, she simply stood staring at her selection of clothes.

"Rachel?" she felt butterflies as she heard Blaine say her name quietly, she closed her closet and turned around to face him, stood in her doorway. They stood in silence for a matter of seconds before Blaine stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. She inhaled deeply, his scent becoming a comfort to her.

"You okay?" he asked quietly, Rachel nodded and stood up, staring into his eyes.

"It's just hard," she admitted, and Blaine understood. He smiled at her as she sat down on her bed.

"So, you asked me a question earlier," Blaine smiled, sitting down next to her and resting his on her headboard, Rachel smiled as he placed an arm around her. She rested her head softly on his shoulder, and let out a quiet sigh.

"You're gay Blaine," she said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah,"

"And this thing between us?" she asked,

"Yeah," Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"So what is it?"

Blaine took a deep breath and gently stroked her hair; she smiled at the contact and waited for him to answer.

"I've always been so sure of who I was, at least I thought I was," he confided, Rachel placed her hand on his chest comfortingly, and he took her hand in his, "Growing up with Kurt, well it was an experience," he smiled fondly, "Kurt's always known that he was gay, he didn't question it, I was a little different."

"How so?" Rachel asked, lifting her head from his shoulder.

"I tried to fight it," he said quietly, "It took my dad a while to accept who I was, and I was so desperate to please him," he paused as he tried to regain his composure, Rachel placed her free hand on top of his and gave him a gentle squeeze. "There were a few girl's in high school, I mean I only ever made out with them when I'd had a drink, but there was never any connection there, you know?" Rachel nodded, knowing too well how alcohol could cloud someone's judgement, she too had a few horror stories about her time at high school.

"It's funny, that was the only thing that Kurt and I argued about, he didn't understand what it was like to be so confused all the _damn_ time,"

"And now?" Rachel asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, Blaine smiled softly at her.

"When Kurt and I finally got together, I thought, well that's it, I'm gay, and I love Kurt, end of story. Then you turned up," Rachel frowned and Blaine laughed, using his free hand to lift her chin.

"There's just something about you, something that I can't resist,"

"So I'm just another experiment?" she asked.

"Is that what you really think?" he asked her and she shrugged, Blaine smiled softly and moved in closer to her, his lips gently brushing against hers.

"You, Rachel Berry, will _never _be an experiment," Rachel smiled and felt the butterflies appear in her stomach once again. That was the end of the conversation; there was nothing more to say. Rachel was extremely pleased that Blaine had been so honest with her, it wasn't something she was expecting, but she was grateful that he trusted her enough to talk to her about his past. They'd both learnt extremely quickly that their time alone was always short lived. Rachel closed her eyes and cuddled closer to Blaine as he tightened his grip around her, she hated not being able to always do this sort of thing with him – the typical couple things that he and Kurt did together. Their time alone was precious and she wanted to stay like this as long as possible.

"Blaine?"

He smiled and placed his finger gently on her lips "Shh."

She opened her eyes and smiled as he slowly removed his finger. With her big brown eyes staring up at him, he couldn't resist kissing her. Rachel soon placed her arms around his neck and his hands resting softly on her hips. They kissed softly at first, and then the passion between them grew. Rachel knew it was a mistake to do this again, she supposed to be getting ready to watch the football game, her _boyfriend's_ football game, but she couldn't help herself. Rachel pushed herself closer to him, but fell on top of him just as she had done on the sofa a few days ago. She guessed that Blaine had done it on purpose this time, his hands swiftly moving to her back and fumbling with her bra.

"Blaine, we're supposed to be going out," she whispered between kisses.

"We have time," he grinned before kissing her again and successfully unclipping her bra. Rachel let out a quiet moan and gave into him, unable to concentrate on anything other than how great Blaine's hands felt on her skin.

Blaine emerged later from Rachel's room, sporting an extremely satisfied grin. This was the first time that they'd been left alone properly in the apartment and they were apparently making the most of the time they had together. Rachel smiled as Blaine walked out of her room; she loved the feeling that she had whenever they were together. She had never felt like this about any guy before, Blaine made her tingle inside by just smiling at her he was special. She could hear Blaine in the shower, so she decided to sort through her clothes again, finishing the job that she'd started earlier. She managed to find something appropriate and placed it on her bed as she heard Blaine walk into his room. She smiled fondly and headed towards the bathroom herself. Half an hour later, she was sat in front of her mirror fixing her hair and make up, when Blaine walked into her room. She smiled as he perched himself on the edge of her bed, watching her for a few minutes. She could feel his eyes on her as she combed through her hair.

"What?" she grinned, staring at him through her mirror.

"You're beautiful," he told her; she blushed and placed her comb on her dresser. Blaine grinned and got up from her bed and wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in her neck, leaving a trail of soft kisses against her skin.

"Blaine, we supposed to be meeting Tina," Rachel grinned as Blaine continued to kiss her neck as she tried to get ready.

"We've got plenty of time," he whispered huskily, his lips barely breaking contact with her skin, Rachel smiled as she turned around in his arms and pressed her lips firmly against his. She placed her fingers in his hair and allowed him to pull her closer towards him, suddenly all thoughts of meeting Tina were a distant memory.

"What took you guys so long?" Tina grinned as Blaine and Rachel finally arrived at the bottom of the football bleachers. Blaine laughed and Rachel smiled at her friend.

"We just lost track of time," Rachel shrugged; Tina nodded and glanced around her.

"So where's Kurt?" she asked, Blaine pushed his hands into his pocket and shrugged.

"He had to work tonight, so it's just the two of us," Tina nodded and led the two of them into the stands. Rachel felt tingles as Blaine placed his hand on her back as she climbed the steps. As they took their seats, Rachel in the middle of Blaine and Tina, Blaine sat and listened quietly as the two girls caught up properly. Time passed and the team made their way out onto the field, Rachel smiled as she stared out and tried to pick Noah and Mike out from the rest of the team.

"Oh look there they are," Tina grinned, pointing towards two members of the team. They both removed their helmets and Mike pointed up in their directions. Noah spotted Rachel immediately and waved, Rachel smiled shyly and waved back, before sitting back down in her seat and glancing in Blaine's direction. The game continued and Blaine found himself relaxing as he watched the game, whilst trying to explain the rules to Rachel who still looked pretty confused, something he thought was pretty adorable. At half time NYU were losing and wasn't looking good for them, the crowd was becoming restless and Rachel leant against Blaine, as she talked to Tina.

"Is it always this violent?" she asked Tina who laughed at her,

"It's just part of the game, they're fine though," Tina explained, "Believe me, when we got out later, you wouldn't think anything was wrong with them." Rachel nodded and smiled as the noticed the team coming back onto the pitch again.

"So how long does this go on for?" she asked Blaine,

"I can't believe you've never watched a football game." He laughed; Rachel rolled her eyes and hit him playfully. "We're going into the second half now," Rachel nodded and sighed contently, as the whistle blew loudly and the game started up again. The crowd started chanting loudly and the pressure began mounting for the team, the score was evening out but NYU still had some work to do if they were going to win and there were only seconds left. The whistle blew for a time out and Rachel stared at Blaine for some sort of explanation.

"I guess he's trying to come up with a strategy for the last ten seconds of the game," Rachel nodded and turned her attention back to the game. Blaine rolled his eyes and smiled at her naivety, something else he really liked about her. The teams took their positions again and the whistle blew, Rachel watched as Mike held the football tightly as Puck ran as far down the field as he could, Blaine and Tina jumped to their feet as Mike threw the ball, Rachel followed their lead as the three of them started shouting frantically as Puck continued to run, watching the ball as he did so, he caught the ball and kept on running, as Mike ran up behind him, helping to block the opposite team when necessary. Puck threw the ball to the ground triumphantly as the final whistle blew. Tina shrieked loudly as she threw her arms around Rachel happily, before she let go of her and Rachel turned to hug Blaine who was cheering loudly. As soon as their bodies touched, Rachel felt the electricity flowing through her veins as he placed his arms tightly around her. They pulled away quickly and smiled at each other.

"I can't believe they won!" Rachel smiled happily.

"Well, if you had to pick your first football game, then this was certainly a good way to start," Blaine grinned, Rachel smiled at him, before Tina linked arms with her.

"See Rachel, I told you they'd be okay," she grinned pointing to the football field where the team was celebrating happily, Noah and Mike pointing up into the stands. Rachel smiled happily as she waved back at Noah, Blaine rolled his eyes, secretly wishing that it was only him that him that she had her attention focused on.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter, yes Blaine was jealous of Rachel and Noah, but remember that Rachel has also had her fair share of jealous moments, living with Blaine and Kurt. Blaine is lucky that he doesn't have to deal with it every day like she does. He can forget about Noah, Rachel can't really forget about Kurt.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, I'm not sure how many chapters are left on this now, I've planned the ending now so everything is leading towards that. As always, please review, I do take all of them on board.**

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><p>As everyone began to clear the stands, Blaine clasped Rachel's hand tightly in his own and helped to guide her down the steps. Rachel didn't say anything about the contact between them, it just felt right, as she was beginning to realise, most things did when she was with Blaine. She didn't have too much time to reflect on things as Mike and Noah suddenly appeared, all showered and ready to go. Rachel smiled as she let go of Blaine's hand and hugged Noah tightly. Blaine sighed quietly to himself as he watched the couple embrace, the jealousy pulsing through his veins, he shook it off and placed a content smile on his face as he stood awkwardly whilst the two couples in front of him embraced. Mike and Tina were the first to break apart. Mike noticed Blaine and smiled at him.<p>

"No Kurt tonight?" he asked, Blaine shook his head.

"Not really his thing," he laughed, before shaking his head, "He had to work anyway," Mike nodded and placed his arm firmly around Tina's shoulders. Blaine glanced around again, and noticed Noah kissing Rachel. He took a deep breath as he tried to steady himself.

"So where are we heading?" he finally asked, Rachel upon hearing Blaine's voice pulled away and smiled back at Blaine. She blushed slightly as Noah placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Why don't we go to that bar we went to last week?" Tina suggested, Mike glanced across at Noah, who nodded. Tina grinned and removed herself from Mike's arm before running over and pulling Rachel in front with her. Blaine smiled to himself, pleased that Tina had pulled Rachel away from Noah. The three boys stood staring at each other as they watched the girls walk off in front, Blaine stuffed his hands into his pockets as he glanced at the two taller boys.

"So, good game tonight huh?" he offered awkwardly, Mike nodded and Noah smiled.

"Yeah, it's what we do," he laughed, "You used to play, right?" Blaine nodded and found himself easing into conversation with Mike and Noah as they walked behind the girls. Blaine was trying so hard not to like this guy, but it was proving extremely difficult.

Rachel was ecstatic when she realised that Tina had taken them to a karaoke bar, it was already pretty crowded when the five of them arrived, but they managed to secure a booth for the five of them. Blaine found himself squashed tightly against Rachel, so that every time she moved, she would brush against his leg. The conversation between the five of them flowed easily and Blaine found that he actually a lot in common with Rachel's friends, and the amount of alcohol that the five of them were consuming was helping with his jealousy as he was forced to sit back and watch Noah and Rachel flirt throughout the evening.

"They were awful," Rachel laughed, turning away from Noah briefly to face Blaine, wanting him to be included in the conversation, he laughed and agreed with her.

"I guess you'll have to them how it's done then," Blaine challenged; Rachel licked her lips and smirked at him.

"We're all singing, right?" Tina grinned as she lazily flicked through the song binder, which one of the waitresses had bought over to their table. Mike and Noah glanced at each other and shook their heads. Tina rolled her eyes and Rachel turned to face Noah, smiling at him.

"And I was really looking forward to hearing you sing," she grinned; Noah smirked at her and picked up his beer bottle, taking a large drink from it.

"Not this time babe," Rachel rolled her eyes and took the binder from Tina, her arm gently brushing against Blaine's as she continued to flick through it. Blaine glanced over her shoulder as she paused on a page, she turned to face him and her gave her an encouraging smile. She smiled at him and wrote down her selection, before passing the binder back to Tina, who quickly wrote down her selection.

"What about you Blaine, are we finally going to get to hear you sing?" Tina asked.

"He better be!" Rachel laughed, "After all, I need to know what I'm working with here," Tina laughed along with Rachel, Blaine smirked as the girls started talking again. He knew he was going to sing to Rachel, it was one of his crazy impulses, but he knew he had to do it. Noah or not, he was singing to her tonight. After flicking through another few pages he finally settled on the perfect song. He wrote in down and passed the binder back to Rachel, purposefully brushing his fingers against hers as he did so.

As the night continued, the standard of singers were getting worse, Rachel had resorted to hiding her head in her hands for some of the performances, and others she jus refused to hide her shame, deciding to just laugh out loud, causing Blaine to join her.

"Okay, next up, we have a Miss Rachel Berry," Rachel grinned as she heard her name being called, Noah stood up and Rachel quickly made her way out of the booth.

"Wish me luck," she grinned to her friends, they cheered loudly as she made her way up to the stage, her head held high. She took the microphone from the MC and beamed down at her friends who were still shouting her name. She laughed as the music started up behind her, she caught Blaine's eyes briefly before Noah shifted in his head and Rachel noticed him smiling proudly at her. She smiled back at him as she started singing.

"_Step back, gonna come at you fast_

_I'm drivin' out of control, I'm gettin' ready to crash_

_Won't stop shakin' up what I can_

_I serve it up in a shot, so suck it down like a man," _

Rachel strutted across the stage, the crowd in the bar focusing purely on her, her friends were still cheering loudly, and it only fuelled Rachel on.

"_So baby, yes, I know what I am_

_And no I don't give a damn and you'll be lovin' it_

_Some days I'm a super bitch_

_Up to my old tricks but it won't last forever_

_Next day I'm your super girl_

_Out to save the world and it keeps gettin' better."_

As Rachel continued to sing, she glanced across at her friend's table and couldn't help noticing the look on Blaine's face, she smirked at him and continued to sing. Thoroughly enjoying the attention that she was getting from the crowd.

"_Kiss kiss, gonna tell you right now_

_I make it sweet on the lips, I simply knock you out_

_Shut up, I don't care what you say_

_'Cause when we're both in the ring, you're gonna like it my way_

_Yeah baby, there's a villain in me_

_So sexy, sour and sweet and you'll be lovin' it"_

Blaine sat quietly in the booth as he continued to watch Rachel perform on stage, he blocked out all of the noise around him and focused on her. She was perfect; he was completely mesmerized by her.

"_Hold on_

_It keeps gettin' better_

_Hold on_

_It keeps gettin' better_

_In the blink of an eye, in the speed of the night_

_I hold the universe up, I'll make your planets collide_

_I'ma strap on my boots and I slip on my suit_

_You see the vixen in me becomes an angel for you_

_Some days I'm a super bitch_

_Up to my old tricks but it won't last forever_

_Next day I'm your super girl_

_Out to save the world and it keeps gettin' better"_

Rachel finished singing and the crowd was silent for a few seconds before the room erupted into loud cheers and catcalls. Rachel smiled gratefully at her audience and handed the microphone back to the MC, she glanced across at her friends who were now on their feet cheering for her. She blushed slightly, before she returned to her seat, ignoring some of the extremely inappropriate catcalls that some were throwing her way. Noah hugged her tightly as she approached their booth.

"Now that was hot!" he laughed, Rachel blushed as she sat back down, next to Blaine who nodded in agreement with Noah, Rachel took a drink from her glass and smiled as Tina's name was called. She wished her friend look and relaxed back in her seat. Noah announced that he was going to get another round of drinks, leaving Blaine and Rachel alone with only Mike for company. Not that it mattered; he was too transfixed by his girlfriend's performance to take much notice of anything else.

"Are you having a good time?" Rachel asked Blaine quietly, as she rested her head contently on his shoulder.

"You're amazing," he whispered into her hair, Rachel smiled at the compliment, not bothering to lift her head. The two sat quietly as they watched Tina up on stage performing her rendition of "I kissed a Girl," they cheered enthusiastically as Tina left the stage, Rachel lifting her head and returning to normality as Tina and Noah returned to their booth. Blaine let out a quiet sigh and tried to block out the image of Noah kissing Rachel right in front of him. He heard his name being called and literally jumped at the chance to leave the booth, Noah and Rachel separated and shuffled out of the booth, and Blaine locked eyes with Rachel briefly, smiling at her before walking towards the stage. He took the microphone from the MC and glanced over at the booth, pretty pleased that Rachel was focusing her attention on him again, instead of Noah. The music started and Rachel shifted in her seat, Blaine smiled and started singing.

"_I know all about,_

_About your reputation,_

_And how it's bound to be a heartbreak situation_

_But I can't help it if I'm helpless_

_Every time that I'm where you are._

_You walk in and my strength walks out the door_

_Say my name and I can't fight it any more_

_Oh I know, I should go_

_But I need your touch just too damn much._

_Loving you, _

_That isn't really something I should do_

_I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you._

_Well I should try to be strong_

_But baby you're the right kind of wrong_

_Yeah, baby you're the right kind of wrong."_

Blaine paused and glanced around the room, Rachel's eyes were transfixed on him, he smiled and glanced around the room, pretty pleased with the response he was getting from the crowd.

"_It might be a mistake_

_A mistake I'm makin'_

_But what your giving I am happy to be taking_

_Cause no one's ever made me feel_

_The way I feel when I'm in your arms_

_They say your somethin I should do without_

_They don't know what goes on_

_When the lights go out_

_There's no way to explain_

_All the pleasure is worth all the pain_

_Loving you,_

_Isn't really something I should do _

_I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you_

_Well I should try to be strong_

_But baby you're the right kind of wrong_

_Baby you're the right kind of wrong"_

Rachel stared intently as Blaine performed on stage, she was pretty sure that this song was about her. Her heart was pounding against her chest, as she continued to watch him. She'd never seen him like this before; she was unable to tear her eyes away from him as he continued to perform on stage.

"_I should try to run but I just can't seem to_

_'Cause every time I run you're the one I run to_

_Can't do without what you do to me,_

_I don't care if I'm in to deep yeah_

_I know all about,_

_Yea about your reputation_

_And how it's bound to be a heartbreak situation_

_But I can't help it if I'm helpless_

_Every time that I'm where you are_

_You walk in and my strength walks out the door_

_Say my name and I can't fight it any more_

_Oh I know, I should go_

_But I need your touch just too damn much_

_Hey-yeah_

_Loving you, yeah, isn't really something I should do_

_I shouldn't wanna spend my time with you _

_Well I should try to be strong, I should try to be strong_

_But baby you're the right kind of wrong_

_Baby you're the right kind of wrong_

_Baby you're the right kind of wrong_

_Yeah baby you're the right kind of wrong"_

Blaine finished singing and once again the room erupted into loud cheers, he grinned at his audience, before glancing at his own table, Mike, Tina and Noah were all cheering loudly for him. Rachel was still sat pretty mesmerized by him, until she felt everyone around her moving her, she blinked and quickly started clapping along with her friends. Blaine smiled as he handed the microphone back to the MC and walked back to his table.

"Wow, Blaine that was incredible!" Tina gushed as he returned to his seat, he shrugged as he brushed against Rachel's leg as he sat down.

"What did you think Rachel?" Tina asked, Rachel blinked, glancing from Tina to Blaine and then back again.

"Yeah, it was really good," she mumbled, picking up her drink before she could say anything else.

The group went their separate ways at the end of the night, Blaine stood by and waited as Rachel said goodbye to Noah, and it was an extremely long goodbye, before she turned to hug Tina and Mike. He said goodbye to them all, before Rachel finally linked arms with him and the pair turned to walk back to their apartment. They walked quietly for a while, Rachel snuggling against him comfortably as they continued to walk, Blaine smiled happily as he smelt her hair. When they were about halfway home, Rachel stopped walking and turned to face Blaine.

"You okay?" he asked her, she shrugged and clasped his hand.

"That was some performance back there," she told him, Blaine nodded and smiled at her,

"You noticed huh?" he laughed,

"I just can't help wondering…." Blaine squeezed her hand gently and nodded.

"Yes, it was about you, and yes I meant it," Rachel didn't say anything straight away, she just sat in silence, replaying what he'd just told her, she thought back to his performance and how perfect the whole situation was. Then she thought about Noah and Kurt, and she shook her head.

"You don't mean that," she whispered, removing herself from his grasp, she turned her back on him and started walking away. Blaine let out a frustrated sigh and hurried over to catch up with her. He clasped her wrist and turned her around to face her, their body's inches apart.

"At first, fine maybe it was just a sexual thing, it was different and exciting." he told her, Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance, "But something's changed, it's not only sex anymore, I just want to be with you all the time,"

"Blaine, don't do this," she whispered quietly, unable to meet his eye. Blaine shook his head and smiled at her

"This shouldn't work," he told her, gesturing between them, "But when I'm with you, I'm so unbelievably happy. I…"

Rachel shook her head and placed her finger against his lips, knowing what was coming next.

"Don't," she whispered, as his face got closer to hers, his lips dangerously close to hers.

"I love you," he didn't give her a chance to respond, his lips crashed onto hers and he pulled her closer to him, holding onto her tightly as she wrapped her arms around him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank so for all of the reviews for the last chapter. I now present you with chapter 18, and the trip to Vegas for Kurt and Blaine. I apologise in advance for all the angst in this chapter, but Rachel feels that she's doing the right thing, and she's trying to mentally prepare herself for any hurt that could come her way. She's trying to protect herself. But i promise you that this isn't the end of them, Vegas is just a speed bump for them :) But that's all I'm saying for now, other than the end is getting closer for this story and hopefully you won't be disappointed by it. But no need to be depressed just yet, we still have quite a few chapters left until the end, but I'm working my way through them now :)**

**As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review x**

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><p>The next few days were unbelievably hectic for Rachel, Blaine and Kurt. Rachel had been called in for extra rehearsals for her opening night next week, Kurt was frantically trying to finish things at work so he would be able to enjoy his weekend away with Blaine without any distractions, and Blaine was cramming for his finals, trying to think of a duet for him to perform with Rachel, and Kurt had also left him in charge of packing for Vegas. Ever since Blaine had confessed his love for Rachel, which even now stunned him how he'd been able to come to that conclusion so quickly. It took him months to realize that he loved Kurt more than just a friend. He didn't know what to do about either of them. Kurt was and always had been the safer option, being with Kurt was what had always been expected of him, it was like they were destined to be together, but then there was Rachel, he loved her so much and desperately wanted to be with her, but by doing so he was going against everything he'd ever known. They'd hardly been able to spend any time together and it was driving Blaine crazy. She was working ridiculously long hours, and whenever she was at home; Blaine had to leave for another class. Rachel was also struggling under the pressure, she desperately wanted to confide in Blaine how hard things were becoming, she wanted him to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be alright, but whenever they were in the apartment together, Kurt was there and neither Rachel nor Blaine could act on their feelings.<p>

Before they all knew it, it was Friday morning and Blaine and Kurt were getting ready to leave. Rachel had hid herself away in her bedroom, struggling with the fact that she wasn't going to see Blaine at all for the next few days, and the harsh reality that this thing between them may be over before it really had a chance to begin. Rachel heard Kurt in the bathroom and seconds later she heard a quiet knock on her door, she couldn't help smiling when Blaine sneaked in and joined her on the bed. He pulled her into a hug and the two sat quietly for a few minutes.

"I'm going to miss you," Rachel whispered,

"Well, you shouldn't, I'm only going for a couple of days," he told her, kissing the top of her head.

"That's not what I meant," she sighed, sitting up and staring into his soft brown eyes, Blaine sighed, the look in her eyes telling him that there was more to come.

"When you get back, you'll be over me – which is good for Kurt's sake – so I guess what I meant to say is that I'll miss being with you," Blaine gulped, he had not been expecting that, he stared into her eyes and smiled.

"We don't know that for sure," he smiled, "I love you Rachel, I doubt that going away for a few days will change that," Rachel sighed and gave him a sad smile.

"You only think that you love me, but you're spending the next few days with Kurt and you'll remember the reason why you're both together in the first place, you love him Blaine!" Her eyes were welling up with tears and she stood up and walked to the other side of the room.

"I know, but I can't imagine not wanting to be with you," he stood up and walked over to her, taking her hands inside of his and pulling her close, "I can't imagine not being able to kiss you," he gently lifted her chin and bought her lips closer towards his, he closed the gap and kissed her – a kiss that was just as amazing as their first kiss in the hotel that night a few weeks ago. Blaine desperately hoped that this would not be the last time that they'd be able to do this, but Rachel quickly pulled away and pushed him away.

"I love you Blaine, and this is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I need to get used to the idea that we'll never be together, not the way we'd both like." Blaine shook his head as he stared into her tear filled eyes.

"Don't do this Rachel," he whispered, "I'll be back on Monday, and we can talk then." He pulled her into a hug and Rachel didn't want to let go, she knew that the next time that she saw him that he wouldn't be interested in her, whatever feelings that he thought he had for her would be gone and she'd just have to come to terms with that. Blaine took this opportunity to take in everything about Rachel, the way he could smell her hair and how he could feel her gentle breath against his neck, and the way that Rachel felt as if she'd never let go of him. They heard the bathroom door open and Rachel pulled away from him, staring into his eyes one final time.

"You should go," she smiled faintly, "I really hope you have fun," Blaine sighed as he stared at Rachel before nodding and walking to her door, pausing as he hand hovered over the handle.

"I'm not giving up on us Rachel," he told her and Rachel sniffed quietly, "I do love you, you know?"

"I know," Rachel nodded; Blaine gave her one final smile before walking out of the room.

Rachel kept herself locked away for the rest of the morning, she could hear Kurt in the lounge shouting something about passports and tickets and Rachel buried her head deeper into her pillows. She tried to ignore the comforting sound of Blaine's voice as he tried to calm down Kurt. She only emerged, when Kurt shouted her, alerting her that their taxi had arrived to pick them up. Rachel took a deep breath and straightened out her clothes before walking into lounge.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Kurt asked, as he pulled Rachel into a goodbye hug, Rachel nodded and put on her best show face.

"I'll be fine, now you two go and have fun," Kurt grinned and picked up his case, as Blaine stepped forward, he gave Rachel an awkward smile before pulling her into a hug, Rachel closed her eyes tightly as she tried to stop herself from crying, she took a deep breath as she tried to remember everything she possibly could about Blaine, how he felt when they hugged, how good he smelt and how perfectly she fit into his arms.

"I'm not done with us yet," he whispered as he pulled away, he winked at her before following Kurt out of the apartment, Rachel picked up her keys and followed them downstairs to wave them off. She watched as Kurt and Blaine loaded the taxi with their luggage, before each of them gave Rachel one final wave, and the taxi began to move. Rachel had never known how it felt to have her heart broken, but as she watched Blaine drive off with into the distance, she was pretty sure that this was how it would feel.

A few hours later and Rachel was still in mourning, she missed Blaine, she knew that they didn't always have anytime alone together but she enjoyed the comfort of him just being there. Not that it helped her anymore, she knew that she'd done the right thing, by letting him go now, she had an extra couple of days to deal with the heartbreak instead of having to face it on the day that he came home and when he didn't look at her with that sparkle in his eye that he always had done. She groaned loudly as she rolled over on her bed, she desperately wanted to forget about Blaine, she knew that Blaine would be too focused on Kurt to be even considering her, she needed to move on and push all of her feelings for him to one side. She sighed as he picked up her picked up her phone, knowing that there was one way that she could forget about Blaine. Her thumb hovered over the call button and she took a deep breath before she finally pressed it, it rang a few times before she recognized the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, it's Rachel."

"Oh hey, I was jus thinking about you," she smiled sadly, knowing that he was far from her first thoughts,

"Well, I've got the apartment to myself this weekend, I just wondered if you wanted to come and keep me company?" she suggested, trying to remain as collected as she could.

"Yeah, that sounds great, give me an hour or so, and I'll be there," Rachel nodded as they exchanged goodbyes before throwing her phone to one side. Phase one of moving on commenced.

"Wow, Kurt this place is incredible!" Blaine stated in awe as they walked through the hotel lobby, it wasn't Blaine was expecting at all. Kurt shrugged as he walked towards the check in desk, Blaine stared at him for a minute, Kurt had been very quiet on the plane and it concerned him, but Kurt had told him numerous times that he was fine, so Blaine was forced to go along with him.

"Hello, I've got a reservation under the name of Hummel," Kurt told the receptionist as Blaine caught up with him with the bags. The receptionist nodded and typed something into the computer before nodding and smiling at Kurt. She produced a room key and handed it over to him.

"You're in suite 500, it's on the top floor," Kurt nodded before glancing at Blaine who was staring at him in awe.

"Come on then," Kurt shrugged, heading towards the elevator.

"Kurt, you booked us a suite?" Blaine asked in disbelief following his boyfriend, Kurt nodded and smiled at him.

"We haven't had a vacation in so long, I thought we could do with splashing out a little," he explained as the elevator doors opened and his walked inside, Blaine smiled at him and pulled the bags inside with him. When they stepped out into the corridor, Blaine noted that their suite was the room on this level; he shook his head in disbelief.

"How lucky are we, getting a floor to ourselves?" Blaine asked as Kurt placed the room key into the lock, he pushed the door open and walked inside, Blaine smiled and followed him, placing the bags on the floor and standing in the doorway, taking in the sheer size of the suite.

"Wow – this place is huge!" Blaine remarked.

"Yeah, the bed is pretty big as well," Kurt smiled, Blaine nodded and walked over to the balcony doors, opening them wide and stepping outside.

"Kurt, you should see the view from here!" he shouted, Kurt came out seconds later, taking in all of the lights and sounds that Las Vegas had to offer, Blaine smiled as he took Kurt's hand in his and squeezed it gently, Kurt sleepily placed his head on Blaine's shoulder and let out a content sigh.

"Kurt. Seriously, how did you manage to afford all of this?" Blaine asked, biting his lip. Kurt shrugged, unable to meet Blaine's eye, obviously now wanting to tell Blaine the truth.

Blaine knew that Kurt didn't have that much money, getting to New York had always been the dream of the two of them, but Kurt's family were not as well off as Blaine's and it had been struggle for him to get there, and that was the reason for him working so hard since they had arrived. They didn't live a high life, but they were comfortable. Blaine also knew that Kurt had been saving for a while now to go to Milan for their fashion week, Blaine sighed and shook his head.

"Kurt, tell me you didn't," he sighed.

"Didn't what?" Kurt asked.

Blaine sighed, he didn't need to ask again, he knew perfectly well where Kurt had got the money.

"Kurt, you've been saving that money for so long," Blaine sighed, "You almost had enough to get to Milan and do everything that you wanted to do, now you've wasted it on me." Kurt shook his head and lifted his head from Blaine's shoulder.

"I didn't waste it," Kurt told him, "I wanted to spend that money on us, I can go to Milan any time."

"But you've been saving that money for ages, and now it's all gone," Blaine continued.

"But I've spent it on something so much better than Milan," Kurt smiled.

"You're amazing Kurt," Blaine smiled, and before he could say anything else, Kurt was kissing him and leading him back into the room. As Kurt kissed Blaine on their bed, memories of 'That Night' came flooding back and all Blaine could think of was how Rachel's soft lips had kissed his, and how he had explored her body for the first time. Blaine opened his eyes and jolted away from Kurt.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked, wondering why Blaine had ended the kiss so abruptly.

Blaine looked blank for a few minutes and them smiled at him.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," he told him, reassuring himself rather than Kurt.

"Come on – you've never pulled away from me like that." Kurt asked, not convinced. "What is it?"

"Seriously, I'm fine!" Blaine stressed, "I'm perfect!" Kurt nodded and leant forward to kiss Blaine, who turned his head to the side, leaving Kurt kiss-less again.

"Hey, do you want to get something to eat?" Blaine asked, Kurt sighed. He knew something was bothering Blaine, but he wanted Blaine so much, and they hardly had any time alone these days.

"We could order room service?" Kurt suggested, leaning forward again.

"Good idea!" Blaine grinned, rolling over and pulling a menu from the bedside table and quickly reading through it.

He didn't know what had come over him, one minute he was kissing Kurt, but then the next minute all he could think about Rachel and how he wished that he was kissing her instead.


	19. Chapter 19

**Here's the next chapter, I get the impression that you were not entirely keen on Rachel finishing with Blaine in the last chapter. I'm sorry about that, but she was doing what she thought was right. Even though she clearly loves him, she's trying to put her own feelings aside and be a good friend. No matter how much it's hurting her inside. That's how I see it anyway, but like I keep telling you, there is Raine ahead ;) **

**The end is getting closer for this story, I'm guessing about five chapters or so. Hopefully you'll be pleased with how it all ends, but until then there is plenty of angst to go around.**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>Rachel woke up the late the next morning, as she rolled over she felt someone in the bed next to her, her breath caught and for a brief moment she thought that it was Blaine lying next to her. She smiled and opened her eyes properly and as she did so she remembered that Blaine was in Las Vegas with Kurt and that the person asleep next to her was Noah. It all came flooding back to her. She'd invited him over the previous day and they'd spent the better part of the evening drinking and making out, Rachel thinking that the more that she had to drink, then the easier it would be to block out her feelings for Blaine. It didn't work; in fact as she lay in her bed, it made it more painful to block Blaine from her thoughts. She lay quietly for a while, trying to convince herself that finishing with Blaine was the best thing for both of them. No matter how many times she told herself that their relationship was based on lust and not love, she just couldn't convince herself. She knew that she loved Blaine, he made her feel happier than she'd ever been before, but she also knew that deep down that <em>her<em> Blaine wasn't coming back to her. Noah began to stir next to her and she forced a smile as she turned to face him.

"Morning," he grinned

"Good morning, Noah." She smiled, "I was just about to get up and make come coffee, would you like some?"

"I can think of something better than coffee to wake me up," he smirked, closing the gap between the two of them and kissing her, and as Rachel eased into the kiss, she couldn't help imagining that Blaine was here kissing her.

The two of them eventually emerged from Rachel's room hours later, only after Rachel had argued that the two of them needed to eat. So, whilst Noah headed for the bathroom, Rachel headed into the kitchen to prepare them a meal. Her mind started drifting again as she began preparing their food, she'd thought about calling Blaine countless times, and each time she had argued that it was pointless, he'd be too busy with Kurt to even give her second thought. As she watched the pasta boil in the water, the phone rang loudly making Rachel jump, and for a split second, she thought it would be Blaine.

"Hello?" she asked quickly.

"Oh hey, it's Finn, Kurt's brother, is he there?" Rachel sighed quietly.

"No sorry, he's taken Blaine to Vegas for the weekend," she tried to remain upbeat as she talked to Finn.

"Wow – he's really full of surprises," Finn laughed, and Rachel could feel her stomach tightening, "Wait, you're Rachel right? Kurt and Blaine's roommate?"

"Yeah, that's me, Can I take a message?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, well Mia and I were wondering if you guys had any plans for Blaine's birthday next Wednesday?"

"No, no plans as far as I'm aware," Rachel said quietly,

"Oh, well Mia and I had an idea, we thought we'd throw him a party," Rachel nodded along with Finn's suggestion,

"I'm sure Kurt would be more than happy to help you guys plan," Rachel smiled, her stomach tightening even more.

"That would be great, but with Mia and I both working, we need to get a head start on planning, it's a last minute idea, would you mind helping?" Rachel closed her eyes and willed herself to make and excuse, tell them she was busy, but she couldn't do it.

"Sure, I'll be happy to help,"

"Really, that's great." Rachel groaned silently as she could feel Finn's enthusiasm through the phone line.

"So, do you have a venue in mind?" Rachel found herself asking, cursing herself for agreeing to do this in the first place, Blaine was the one person that she was trying forget about, and here she was discussing his birthday at great length, with his brother-in-law.

"Well, we know a few friends of ours that live in the city, they might agree to let us have the party there, they've always gotten on pretty well with Blaine and Kurt in the past,"

"Sounds great," Rachel nodded as Noah approached her in the hallway, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.

"Great, well I'll give them a call, and let you know by tomorrow what's happening. Is that cool with you?" Rachel sighed quietly as she felt Noah nuzzle against her; she pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded.

"Yeah, that's fine, speak to you soon," she hung the phone up and turned around in Noah's arms.

"You okay babe?" he asked her; Rachel nodded and forced a smiled on her face once more.

"Yeah, I'm great," she lied, as she led him into the kitchen, hoping that their lunch hadn't been totally ruined.

* * *

><p>Blaine had been distracted to, he was desperately trying to forget about Rachel, but every time that Kurt touched him, she was all he could think about. The two of them had spent the day exploring the area, checking out the different hotels, exploring the variety of stores, and Blaine had been able to push Rachel to the back of his mind, knowing that he had something else to focus on. It had been difficult for him, he'd try to focus his attention on Kurt and listen intently to what he had to say, but all he could think of was Rachel's last words to him. They haunted him, he loved her and he wanted to be with her, he knew that, he just wasn't sure how yet. He also knew that there was no way that he could return home and still not want to take her in his arms and kiss her, he was in love with her, there was no doubt about that.<p>

Kurt had arranged a romantic evening out for the two of them, and Blaine had used his best show face when Kurt had informed them of his plans, as the two of them returned to the hotel. Kurt had kissed Blaine as soon as they'd entered the room and Blaine had kissed him back gently, clearly not feeling the spark that Kurt was. Kurt pulled away, a dejected expression on his face.

"Are you sure you're okay, Blaine?" Kurt asked seriously, Blaine nodded and smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'm great, why?" Kurt shrugged and walked further into the suite, Blaine following cautiously behind him.

"I miss you," Kurt told him, Blaine blinked in confusion as he stared at his boyfriend.

"Kurt, I'm right here," he laughed, running a hand through his hair.

"I know, it's just – you've been so distant the last couple of weeks, I'm starting to worry about you," Blaine gulped as Kurt smiled softly at him, "Are you sure that there's nothing you want to tell me?" Blaine gulped and nodded.

"I told you, I'm fine," he smiled, kissing Kurt's forehead gently. Kurt smiled at the contact and nodded.

"Okay," Kurt sighed, "I'm going to get ready," Blaine smiled as he watched his boyfriend walk into the bathroom, before he fell in a heap on their bed. He let out a muffled groan and felt his cell phone digging into his side, he pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen. Slowly he began to scroll through his contacts pausing slightly when he reached Rachel's name, he smiled fondly as his thumb hovered over the call button, he could hear Kurt in the bathroom and took a deep breath as he finally took the plunge and hit call. It rang for a couple times before he heard Rachel's voice.

"_Hello, you've reached Rachel Berry's phone, I'm sorry I can't take your call right now, I'm probably busy securing my next starring role, but if you leave your name and number, I'll happily get back to you,"_

Blaine's breath caught in his throat as he heard Rachel's voice, he wanted to speak, but he couldn't he sighed quietly and ended the call. He shoved his phone into his pocket again and slowly began rummaging through his clothes looking for something to wear that evening.

"So are you ready to go?" Kurt asked a while later, Blaine nodded and smiled as the two of them walked out of the suite and towards the elevator. Blaine couldn't help noticing that Kurt seemed on edge.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked, Kurt nodded and stepped into the elevator as the door opened wide, Blaine sighed and followed him. The doors closed behind them and Blaine sighed quietly as Kurt started to play absently with a loose piece of thread, Blaine stared at him, positive that something was up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again, Kurt sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'm fine Blaine!" Kurt replied, probably a little sharper than he'd originally planned, but Blaine shrugged it off and leant against the wall, wondering what was really the matter with Kurt. The doors opened the two of them quietly stepped out and made their way to the restaurant.

"Table for two please," Kurt, said quietly, as they reached the entrance. The man smiled and led the two of them to their table.

"You're waiter will be with you shortly," he told them as he handed the two of them their menus and left them alone. Blaine and Kurt sat quietly as they stared at their menus, Blaine sighed as he glanced across the table, as Kurt seemed to be reading his own menu pretty intensely. He sighed quietly and glanced around the restaurant, admiring the sheer beauty of it. The restaurant wasn't too busy, but it would really matter if was, the tables were pretty spaced out, so know one could really listen in on their conversation. The candlelight only added to the romantic atmosphere that they were going for.

"So, do you know what you're going to order?" Blaine asked, trying to start up a conversation between them. Kurt lifted his head and stared at Blaine briefly before shaking his head.

"No, not yet," he said before returning his gaze to his menu. Blaine was sure that there was something wrong with Kurt; he hadn't been the same since he'd told Blaine that he missed him. Blaine sighed as he scanned his menu quickly before the waiter came over and took their orders.

"So, I had a really great time today," Blaine started again.

"Yeah, it was fun," Kurt said absently.

"Kurt, are you sure you're okay?" Blaine finally asked, Kurt lifted his head and nodded smiling at him.

"Yeah, I told you, I'm fine," he smiled, "I guess I'm just tired,"

"Kurt, it was your idea to come out tonight," Blaine laughed, Kurt just smiled at him.

* * *

><p>"Rachel?"<p>

Nothing.

"Rachel, are you okay?

Rachel blinked and stared at Noah who was smiling at her, "I'm so sorry, what did you say?"

"I just asked if you were okay," Noah laughed, "You seem, I don't know…distant?"

Rachel hadn't really been much company that day, ever since Finn had called her. Noah was actually beginning that he'd done something wrong; this wasn't the same Rachel that he'd been having so much fun with the last few weeks.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Rachel sighed, playing with a lose strand of hair.

"I don't think you're okay," Noah told her, "I think you've got something on your mind, you want to talk about it?"

Rachel bit her lip and stared at him for a few seconds. Noah was half expecting her to tell him that 'things were not working out between them,' he'd had the feeling for the most part of the evening, asking her if she was okay was only inviting her to finish things with him.

"Really, I'm okay," she told him, smiling. Noah nodded, but wasn't entirely convinced.

Rachel knew that she'd been neglecting Noah that evening – he didn't deserve it, he was a good man. But he wasn't Blaine, and that was the problem. Everything reminded her of him, they'd had the radio playing earlier in the day and Rachel had heard a song that Blaine used to hum around the apartment, and her heart ached as she quickly changed stations. She just wanted to curl up in a ball in her room and feel sorry for herself.

* * *

><p><em>His hands had moved to her back, where they were now under her top unhooking her bra.<em>

"_Blaine, we're supposed to be going out," Rachel managed to say before Blaine kissed her again. _

"_We have time," he grinned before kissing her again and successfully unclipping her bra. Blaine smiled as he heard Rachel moan quietly as he removed her bar and continued to move his hands gently against her skin, loving the sensation of her skin underneath his hands._

Blaine jumped as he woke up from his dream. His instant reaction was the check if he'd woken Kurt – he'd been known to talk in his sleep in the past, and if he'd heard Blaine calling Rachel's name in his sleep then he'd be forced to answer some seriously awkward questions. Luckily, Kurt was still sleeping peacefully next to him. He sighed quietly as he ran his fingers through his hair, Rachel had literally taken over his thoughts and he knew now more than ever that she was the one that he wanted to be with. He'd spent an entire weekend alone with Kurt, but he hadn't felt that connection that the two of them had once shared, they were not the same two people anymore. It wasn't fair on Kurt for him to be in a one sided relationship, it wasn't fair on Rachel to be the other woman and having to keep her feelings to herself, and it wasn't fair on Blaine to be living a lie any longer.


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm so sorry about the delay on this, I've had it planned out for a while now, but for some reason I had trouble actually writing it. But I finally managed to sit down and complete it, and this is the end result - for this chapter anyway. Oh, and I thought I'd let you know that there are only three chapters left after this one, with the possibility of an epilogue, something I'm deciding on right now. I guess I'll wait and see how you all feel after the final chapter. **

**As always, thank you to everyone for reading this, I know that Raine isn't a very popular Ship, but it makes me smile that there are other fellow Raine believers out there :D and a special thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, it means a lot when I read them, especially when I see that you're all pretty pleased with this story, and I'd also like to thank everyone for commenting on my portrayal of Jesse's character in one of the previous chapters, I'm so glad that you liked that, Jesse is one of my all time favourite Glee characters.**

**Anyway, on with the next chapter, enjoy x**

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><p>Monday morning came around far too quickly for Rachel, she'd spent the entire weekend trying to forget about Blaine, and now in a matter of hours she was going to have to face him again, more loved up with Kurt than ever before. She sighed quietly as she glanced at her clock, it was only reading 4.30am, but she couldn't sleep without allowing Blaine to sneak into her dreams. Noah was sleeping peacefully next to her; she bit her lip and quietly crept out of bed, picking up her cell phone before she walked into the lounge. Blaine had called her on Saturday and up until now she hadn't been able to bring herself around to listening to the message, but she knew that she'd have to do it sooner or later, and decided that it was the perfect time to do so, especially as Noah was asleep, it would prevent him from asking any questions. She took a deep breath before hitting the call button, waiting anxiously for her new message to play, she bit down on her lip as the message started playing, she frowned as she listened to an empty line. She replayed the message again, and again there was nothing there. Blaine couldn't even bring himself to talk to her anymore. She felt a lump in her throat as she tried to fight back the tears, this was really it, and Blaine was over her now. There was nothing else she could do, at least she could finally try and move on properly.<p>

A few hours passed and Rachel had got showered and prepared Noah a healthy breakfast as he got ready for his morning class, she had deleted Blaine's non message and tried to forget that it had ever happened. Noah walked into the kitchen and the pair made comfortable small talk as she watched him eat.

"So are you glad that Kurt and Blaine are back today?" Noah asked her, she blinked quickly as stared at him for a minute, he smiled at her as he continued to tuck into his eggs, and Rachel smiled and shrugged.

"It has been weird without them here," she admitted and Noah nodded.

"Babe, I know you've missed them, they're your best friends, I get that," Rachel forced a smile, as the phone rang loudly, she quickly got up to answer it, relieved that she was able to escape the conversation for the time being.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Rachel rolled her eyes as she heard Finn's voice on the line, "I bet you're wondering what it's like to answer your phone and me not to be on the other end?" Rachel didn't really feel like laughing at Finn's weak attempt at a joke, but she let out a polite chuckle and Finn didn't seem to notice.

"I'm guessing you have news about Blaine's party?" Rachel asked quickly, wanting to move the conversation along, as soon as she said Blaine's name she felt a lump in her throat.

"Oh yeah, I spoke to Wes and David, we're all good to go,"

"Who are Wes and David?" Rachel found herself asking.

"Oh, we were in Glee Club together back in High School," Rachel nodded, she'd had no idea that Blaine used to be in Glee Club, she had been in Glee during High School as well, how had she never known this before?

"So anyway, they said they'd help us throw it together, what time are they due back?"

"Sometime this evening," Rachel said quietly,

"Great, could you tell Kurt and ask him to call me as soon as?" Finn asked and Rachel sighed quietly.

"Yeah, I'll tell him." They exchanged goodbyes and Rachel took a deep breath before walking back into the kitchen where Noah had started to clear his things away, he paused when he saw her walk into the room, he picked up on her expression and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You okay babe?" he asked her quietly, she nodded and he kissed the top of her head.

"You don't seem it, you've been a little off all weekend, are you sure everything's okay?" Rachel took a deep breath, everything was far from okay, her life was a tangled mess and she couldn't tell anyone about it, the only person who really knew and understood was out of reach again. She sighed and placed a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him, reaching up and placing a gentle kiss on his lips, he seemed to be satisfied as when she pulled away he was smirking at her.

"I don't have to go to class you know," he smirked and Rachel smiled at him.

"That's very tempting, but you should go to class, I'll cook dinner again tonight, before they come home," Noah nodded and kissed her again before slinging his bag over his shoulder and leaving the apartment.

The journey home had been pretty awkward for Blaine and Kurt. Kurt still seemed to be tense about something and Blaine had run out of ideas, every time he asked Kurt what was wrong, Kurt would sigh loudly and told him that he was fine. Blaine was running out of patience, he didn't want an argument, he really didn't. He may not be _in_ love with Kurt, but that didn't mean that he didn't still love him, it was just a different kind of love. He tried hard not to be annoyed with Kurt's attitude, he knew that he was going to end up hurting him in the long run, but before he did anything he had to speak to Rachel.

"Well, here we are, home sweet home," Blaine smiled as he paid the taxi driver, Kurt nodded and smiled as he picked up his case, Blaine sighed and picked up his own case before following Kurt into the building.

"Thanks for this weekend Kurt," Blaine smiled as they approached their apartment; Kurt paused and turned to face him.

"You enjoyed yourself then?" he asked him, his tone serious.

"Of course," Blaine nodded, Kurt smiled and turned around to push his key into the lock.

"We're home!" Kurt shouted loudly as they walked inside, Blaine was more than a little stunned to see Noah's jacket hanging up in the hallway. He gulped quietly as he and Kurt placed their cases on the floor and continued in the lounge. Blaine could hear voices coming from Rachel's room and he felt the jealousy surge through his veins. Kurt sat down on the sofa and glanced as Blaine took the seat opposite him.

"It seems that Rachel has been having her own mini vacation," Kurt smirked,

"It seems so," Blaine mumbled, as Rachel and Noah appeared in the doorway, Blaine's breath caught in his throat as he finally caught sight of Rachel. She'd been wrong when she'd told him that he'd feel different after a weekend, as he sat looking at her, he wanted her more than ever.

"So, did you two enjoy your trip?" Noah asked, breaking the silence in the room. Blaine and Kurt nodded quietly, before Kurt mumbled something about being tired and having an early start the next morning and heading into his bedroom. Blaine sighed quietly as he watched Kurt walk away.

"Dude, is he okay?" Noah asked, placing his arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"You know what, I have no idea," Blaine shrugged, "He's been like that since Saturday night, we went out for dinner and he's barely spoken to me since," Blaine could feel Rachel's eyes on him, and he wished that she'd say something to him, but she never did.

"Dude, that's rough,"

Blaine woke up the next morning to an empty bed, it was unlike Kurt not to wake him before he went to work, but with Kurt's mood swings lately he was hardly surprised. He lay in bed for a while, listening for any signs of movement in the apartment. After a while, he finally came to the conclusion that he had to move sooner or later, and dragged himself out of bed and towards the kitchen in search of coffee. He paused in the doorway when he saw Rachel sat at the kitchen table, deep in thought, he ran a hand through his tangled hair before clearing his throat and slowly walking inside. Rachel gulped when she saw him, and tried to make a getaway, but Blaine stared at her and Rachel sighed and leant against the nearest counter. Blaine poured himself some coffee and stood against the refrigerator.

"So where's Noah?" he asked finally.

"He had an exam this morning," she told him, as she sipped at her coffee.

"So, has he been here all weekend?" he asked, a hint of resentment in his voice, Rachel lifted her eyes and nodded.

"Noah's been good to me," she said quietly, "He's a good guy Blaine, and I'm sure I'll grow to love him someday, I'm just finding it difficult to get over you," Rachel's eyes widened as she realized what she'd just said, she dared to glance at Blaine who was smiling at her.

"I'm sorry," she said finally

"You don't have to apologize," he said softly, Rachel frowned slightly as she stared at him, urging him to continue, "I love you Rachel, I've spent the entire weekend with Kurt and you were the only thing that I could think about, I've missed you,"

"But…"

"I've missed you Rachel," Blaine smiled, walking towards her, "I want to be with you," He was now inches away from Rachel and she could feel his breath against her skin and she shivered slightly, she lifted her eyes and stared deep into his.

"I want to be with you, but I don't know if I can be the other woman anymore," she sighed sadly; Blaine nodded and traced the outline of her face gently.

"I don't expect you to be," he told her, leaning in and gently pressing his lips against hers. She gave in immediately, it had only been a couple of days but she had missed the feeling of Blaine's lips against hers, she had missed how perfectly she fit against his body, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her, moaning slightly into the kiss. Blaine pulled away first and smiled at her, Rachel blushed and smiled shyly back at him.

"What about Kurt?" she asked him quietly.

"He deserves to know the truth, but I need a few days to figure out what I'm going to say to him," Rachel nodded, aware now that she had to do the same with Noah, she sighed quietly and Blaine pulled her into a hug.

"I suppose I can wait a couple more days." She said quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder, Blaine smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you Rachel," he whispered.

"I love you to,"


	21. Chapter 21

**Here we go! I know you're all wanting Blaine and Rachel to finally get together, and believe me, no one wants that more than I do, however they do have to deal with Kurt and Noah first and I doubt that neither of them are going to take it calmly. Here's chapter 21 of 23 with a possible epilogue afterwards. I'll see how you're all feeling after the final chapter. **

**So now I present to you Blaine's birthday and his surprise birthday party. Please review, I love all feedback and I do read it all, and I take your comments on board, but I've always had an idea of the direction that I wanted this story to take, and I'm pretty pleased with how it's turned out so far. I just can't believe that we're so close to the end. Oh and one more thing, I'm also ten chapters into another story, however that is on a slight break at the moment while I finish this story, but I'd appreciate it if you would read that to. I know it's a shameless plug, but you can't blame a girl from trying right. It's a Puckleberry story, but it has a very strong Raine friendship, which I adore writing for. So please if you've got some free time, go and check out 'International Directions'**

**Hope you enjoy x**

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><p>Blaine woke up on Thursday morning to the sweet smell of pancakes, he rolled over to where Kurt should be, but again wasn't surprised that Kurt wasn't lying next to him. Kurt had been busier than usual the last few days and he'd barely had a chance to talk to him, although he knew he needed to do it soon. He'd been rehearsing what he was going to say for a while now, and every time it got more mixed up. He stretched out and sighed quietly, he opened his eyes, but closed them again quickly, not yet used to the bright light shining through a break in the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and tried again, this time opening them much more slowly and cautiously. A familiar outline was visible at the door and Blaine didn't need to adjust his eyes to know who it was. He walked across the room and quickly pulled the curtains open, ignoring Blaine's groans of protest, and sat down on the edge of the bed.<p>

"Happy Birthday," Blaine's eyes opened properly and he smiled at Kurt, before peeling back the bed covers and sitting up against the headboard. Kurt smiled and handed him a tray with a stack of blueberry pancakes and a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

"Thank you," Blaine smiled as he picked up his coffee and taking a sip, and smiled with content as the hot liquid slid down his throat, both warming him and waking him at the same the same time.

"You've had some cards in the mail this morning," Kurt smiled as Blaine placed his coffee back on his tray, Blaine nodded and smiled at Kurt, realizing that this was the first time in the last few days that he and Kurt had actually spent some time together, but after Kurt had gone to such an effort to make his birthday so special, he just couldn't break up with him.

"You know what, I'll get dressed and finish this in the kitchen, is that okay?" Blaine asked and Kurt nodded before leaning in to kiss Blaine.

"Happy Birthday," he whispered before pulling away and picking up Blaine's tray and walking out of their room. Blaine watched Kurt walk away before rolling over and letting out a muffled groan into his pillow. Today was his birthday, he should be happy, he should be celebrating, but instead he was worrying about how he was going to break the news to Kurt. He sighed as he heard Kurt singing quietly in the kitchen, maybe he wouldn't do anything today. He'd enjoy one last birthday with Kurt, because he was sure that after he broke his heart they'd never be enjoying anything together again.

Blaine finally walked into the kitchen where Kurt had laid the table perfectly and placed his birthday cards into a neat pile. Blaine smiled gratefully and sat down and tucked into his pancakes, before beginning to open his cards. Five cards: the first one from his mum and dad; the second from his grandparents with a very generous cheque inside; the third card also included some money, this time from his aunt, and the final two cards were from Wes and David – two friends from high school that also lived in the city who he and Kurt still kept in touch with.

"Happy Birthday," Kurt smiled as he sat down next to Blaine, he handed him another card and Blaine smiled as he opened it and read Kurt's perfect handwriting.

"Thank you," Blaine smiled gratefully,

"I'll give you your gift this evening at dinner," Kurt explained.

"About that, Kurt. I really don't mind staying it, we don't have to make a big deal of it you know," Kurt grinned and shook his head.

"You don't know me at all, do you?" he laughed and Blaine smiled at him, as he sipped at his coffee. "Now, we're going to have drinks with Wes and David, it's been a while since we all saw each other, then I've booked a table at your favourite restaurant,"

Footsteps could be heard in the hallway and Blaine knew that it was Rachel, he gulped and tried to focus his attention on his breakfast, he would have given anything to have woken up to Rachel on his birthday, to hold her in his arms as they lay in bed for hours, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. As Rachel appeared, Blaine couldn't resist glancing in her direction, she gave him a small smile before walking inside and pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning Rachel," Kurt said quietly, Rachel smiled at him, before walking over and handing Blaine a small card.

"Happy Birthday," she said, her fingertips brushing against Blaine's, sending shivers through his body. He smiled at her and carefully opened the card, inside was the usual birthday greeting, and a small piece of paper with a handwritten message on it.

'_We need to talk, meet me in my room, please?'_ Blaine lifted his eyes and glanced at Rachel and nodded slightly.

Rachel knew that it was risky move leaving a note like that in Blaine's card, but she didn't know what else to do. Blaine still hadn't been able to end things with Kurt, she was still in some sort of sham relationship with Noah, and she didn't know which way to turn. Then she had to contend with Blaine's birthday party this evening, as soon as she'd informed Kurt of Finn's idea he dived into immediate party planning mode, he'd insisted that she invite Noah, along with Mike and Tina, stating that Blaine seemed to get along well with the three of them, so it only made sense. Rachel could sense now just how awkward things were going to be. A part of her wanted to break up with Noah that night when Blaine finally told her that he knew what he was going to do, but then the sane part of her wanted to keep Noah around, just in case Blaine couldn't go through with any of it. At least she knew that Noah cared about her, and she did care about him, just probably not in the same way that he did. She glanced across the room as Kurt fumbled with his phone; he threw a look at Rachel and then sighed loudly.

"Well, it looks like I need to go to work after all," he announced loudly, Blaine glanced at him and frowned.

"I thought you said you'd managed to get the day off?" he asked and Kurt shrugged as he walked across the room.

"I know, but I guess something has come up, I promise I'll be back in plenty of time for dinner though," he kissed Blaine quickly and left the apartment. Rachel sighed quietly, she knew that Kurt was really going to meet up with Finn and make a head start on decorating Wes and David's apartment for the party tonight.

"Well, I guess we don't have to sneak into your room now," Blaine smirked and Rachel smiled as she sat down in the seat next to him, allowing him to pull her closer to him.

"I guess not," she smiled.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Blaine asked and Rachel giggled and shook her head.

"I didn't, I just wanted an excuse to spend some time with you on your birthday," Blaine laughed and stroked her hair softly.

"I have tried you know," he told her honestly,

"I know," Rachel smiled, "I have to figure out what I'm going to say to Noah anyway,"

"How did we manage to get into such a mess?" Blaine asked and Rachel simply shrugged.

The couple sat quietly for a few minutes, enjoying this rare alone time, where they could act like a proper couple.

Later that evening, Kurt was hurrying Blaine along, he was trying to style his hair ready to meet up with Wes and David, but with Kurt following him around, yelling at him to hurry up, he was having trouble concentrating, add that to fact that he was thinking about Rachel who had already gone out – with Noah presumably.

When he was finally ready, Kurt led him out of the apartment and the two of them made their way over to their friends apartment, and Blaine still couldn't stop thinking about Rachel. He pictured her kissing Noah and felt a stab of jealousy hit him a full force, he knew that thinking about Rachel right now was a really, really stupid idea, so instead he took a deep breath and clasped Kurt's hand in his. When they finally arrived Blaine couldn't help noticing that all of the lights were switched off.

"They do know that we're meeting them tonight, right?" Blaine asked Kurt, who nodded and pushed the main door open for the two of them. The walked the stairs quietly and Blaine knocked once again on their friends door. He was more than a little stunned when Mia opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, grinning as he pulled his sister into a tight hug, he hadn't seen her since the wedding and he'd missed her, "Why are all of the lights turned off?"

"Come on," she laughed, pulling Blaine into the apartment by his hand, Kurt following closely behind. Mia fumbled for the switch and finally switched it on.

"Surprise!" Blaine froze as he glanced around the room to see all of his family and friends staring back at him. He glanced at Kurt who shrugged and pointed back at Mia.

"Happy Birthday baby brother!" she grinned and Blaine pulled her into yet another tight hug. Blaine pulled away and glanced at everyone again, this time spotting Rachel in the far corner with Noah, Mike and Tina. He smiled widely when she gave him a small wave.

"Let's get this party started then!" he laughed as Finn hit the music.

Rachel was enjoying herself, although she'd hardly seen Blaine all evening, something she was prepared for, she realised that she was having just as much fun with Noah, Mike and Tina. A slow song came on and Noah placed an arm securely around her, she smiled and continued to talk to Tina, she barely had time to register that Blaine was now standing next to them.

"Hey, happy birthday dude!" Mike grinned, nodding in Blaine's direction.

"Thanks," Blaine grinned, "And thanks for coming," Tina and Mike smiled, but Blaine had quickly turned his attention to Noah and Rachel.

"Do you mind if I steal Rachel away, for one dance?" he asked Noah, quite boldly if he was honest. Rachel grinned at Blaine and quickly glanced at Noah who shrugged, and removed his arm from around her. They didn't stick around any longer, Blaine pulled Rachel into the middle of the room and the pair began dancing slowly together, Blaine placing his hands comfortably on her lower back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Rachel placed her head on Blaine's shoulder and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of Blaine, a scent that she knew too well now. It was torture that she couldn't kiss him, their lips were only inches away, it was so tempting but she knew that she couldn't do anything, not here. She instead she closed her eyes and allowed Blaine to turn her around in time to the music.

Blaine was feeling exactly the same, he wanted to kiss her so badly – he had for a while now, he'd spent the first half of the evening with one eye on Kurt and whoever they were talking to at that moment, and the other on Rachel who always seemed to be engaged in conversation with Noah. Kurt stared at Rachel and Blaine dancing from a far corner of the room, he noticed how meaningful their dance seemed to be, and how incredibly confortable Rachel looked as she rested her head on Blaine's shoulder. He sighed and continued to watch the two of them, before he knew it, the song ended and he watched as Blaine leant in and kissed Rachel's cheek, she grinned and Blaine pulled away, before saying a loud "Happy Birthday!" The pair immediately separated and Rachel quickly made her way back over to Noah and Blaine walked over in Kurt's direction.

"Hey," Blaine grinned and Kurt forced out a smile, "Thanks for doing this,"

"It was Finn and Mia's idea, I only helped with the guest list," Kurt mumbled, "Jesse is over there, why don't you go and talk to him. I've got to talk to Finn about something anyway," Blaine stared at Kurt for a moment before nodding and sighing and making his way over to Jesse.

"Hey!" Jesse grinned holding out a beer for Blaine, Blaine took the drink gratefully and leant against the wall, sighing loudly.

"So, I'm guessing that's Rachel over there?" Jesse asked, and Blaine nodded.

"Have you figured out what you're going to do yet?" Jesse asked quietly, and Blaine closed his eyes tightly and nodded.

"I saw the way you two were dancing, I'm guessing she feels the same?"

"I love her Jesse," Blaine whispered, Jesse's eyes widened and he shook his head at his friend, "What do I say to Kurt?"

"I don't think I'm the right person to ask, do you?" Jesse smirked; Blaine rolled his eyes and downed his beer.

"Yeah, you're right about that." Blaine laughed, punching his friend jokingly in the shoulder. Blaine didn't mention Rachel again, but Jesse knew that he was still thinking about her. If he was honest, he was pretty stunned by Blaine's admission, sure he thought that Blaine had developed a crush, but he didn't think it was this bad.

"So, have you sorted out your duet yet, or have you been to preoccupied in your rehearsal schedule?" Jesse smirked, arching an eyebrow. Blaine rolled his eyes again and shook his head.

"I often question why we're friends," he smirked and Jesse laughed.

"Because, I'm the only one who can put up with your drama," Blaine laughed and nodded.

"That is very true."

Their conversation was cut short as Blaine could hear Kurt trying to get everyone's attention in the centre of the room, the room fell silent and Blaine and Jesse moved further into the room, standing next to Finn and Mia.

"Hey everybody, I'd like to start off by thanking everyone for coming tonight. I really appreciate you all helping to celebrate Blaine's birthday," there was a ripple of applause and Kurt grinned back at everyone. "I'd just like to take a moment to talk about Blaine, and how he's always been such a big part of my life." Blaine's stomach tightened and everyone turned around to face him, he smiled politely at everyone, and Kurt caught his eye.

"Blaine, why don't you come up here?" Blaine shook his head in protest, but Finn laughed and pushed him forward. Blaine groaned inwardly as he stood alongside Kurt and stared at their friends and family.

"Now, where was I?" Kurt asked and everyone laughed, "Oh, I remember, Blaine has always been such a big part of my life, we've been friends since we were four years old, that's quite some time, I'll tell you." Everyone laughed again and Blaine forced out yet another uncomfortable smile, he glanced at Rachel who was staring at him and Kurt, she shrugged, telling him that she had no idea what was going on either.

"Now I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm telling you all this?" Kurt asked again, "Well, being friends for that long, you don't keep secrets from each other, well at least I thought we didn't." he stated, his tone now cold. Blaine froze in horror, he shot a look of panic at Rachel who had turned white and Kurt laughed.

"That's right, look at her Blaine, after all, you've been doing a lot more than just looking since Finn and Mia's wedding!" Kurt snapped,

"Kurt, don't do this," Blaine whispered, as Finn and Mia exchanged confused glances,

"Don't do what Blaine, tell everyone how you've been sleeping with Rachel freaking Berry behind my back for the last month!"

Rachel felt physically sick, she knew that something wasn't right when Kurt had insisted that Blaine join him in the front of the crowd, she'd seen the panicked expression on Blaine's face, but neither of them had been prepared for what Kurt was throwing at them. The whole room gasped and felt Noah's body tense as she he looked down at her. She didn't dare meet his eye, they were already brimming with tears, instead she kept facing forward, watching the horrific scene play out in front of her.

"So there you have it, happy birthday Blaine, I hope it's everything you imagined it would be!" Kurt shrieked loudly before quickly making his exit from the apartment.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion after that, everyone was staring at Blaine, waiting for him to tell them that Kurt had got it wrong, and that it was all one big misunderstanding, but he couldn't do it.

"I've got to go," he mumbled, before turning on his heel and running out after Kurt.

Rachel watched as Kurt and Blaine left the apartment, she could see people already pointing and whispering about her. She didn't know what to do, she wanted nothing more than to just leave and not have to deal with anything, but she knew that it wasn't going to happen. Slowly she turned her head and glanced at Noah.

"Tell me it isn't true," he said slowly, his voice low. He knew the answer already, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"I'm so sorry Noah," she said, tears streaming down her face, Noah pulled his hand away from her abruptly and stormed out of the door. Rachel sobbed quietly, as she glanced at Tina who shook her head at her friend and turned her back on her. Rachel had never felt so alone before. She sighed quietly, and quickly ran out of the apartment, hoping to catch up with Noah. She spotted him walking quickly down the stairs and hurried after him.

"Noah, wait!" she shouted, he froze when he heard her voice and turned around to face her.

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was!" he snapped, Rachel had never heard him so angry before, she didn't think that he was capable of talking to her like this.

"I'm so sorry Noah," she sobbed, "I never meant to hurt you,"

"Save it Rachel!" he snapped, "My girlfriend is screwing around with a gay guy, and it's not supposed to sting?"

"I never meant for it to get this far," Rachel tried to explain.

"A f*cking month Rachel, you've been screwing him the whole time we've been seeing each other, what was I some sort of consolation prize while he was screwing his _boyfriend_? Is that why you invited me over last weekend, so you could get some action while he was in Vegas?" Rachel winced at his tone and shook her head.

"It wasn't like that Noah," she said quietly, "I do really care about you," Cautiously she reached out and placed her hand on his arm, he shrugged it off and Rachel quickly moved her hand back to her side.

"We're done talking about this." He stated coldly, he turned his back on her and continued to walk down the stairs, Rachel watched him leave, her heart aching as she started crying fresh tears. She didn't know what to do next, she couldn't return to the apartment, everyone hated her now, but she couldn't go home, she knew that was where Kurt and Blaine would be, and she couldn't face either of them yet.

"Hey, it's Rachel, isn't it?" she sighed quietly; as she heard someone talking behind her, slowly she turned around and stared at the young man in front of her.

"Who are you?" she asked, wearily.

"I'm Jesse, I'm a friend of Blaine's," he explained and Rachel started crying again. Jesse sighed quietly as he watched the broken girl in front of him; carefully he pulled her into a tight embrace and allowed her to cry on his shoulder.

"I don't judge you, you know," he said quietly.

"Why not, everybody else does," she sniffed, "I'm such a terrible person,"

"All you did was fall in love, that doesn't make you a bad person, that makes you human," he smiled slightly; he never thought that he'd be in this situation; he was never one to deal with girls and their emotions. He was a love them and leave them kind of guy, it was less messy that way.

"Come on, you can't stay here," he told her quietly,

"Where are we going?" she asked him.

"My apartment isn't too far from here," he said leading her down the stairs, "I'll make you a coffee and you can stay there until you're ready to go home."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked him as he held the door open for her.

"Because Blaine is one of my best friends, and he'd never forgive me if I left you alone here to face the music on your own," Rachel smiled gratefully at him and the two walked silently to Jesse's apartment.


	22. Chapter 22

**Wow, that last chapter certainly managed to stir up some emotions for you guys. I'm so pleased you liked the tension of the piece, it's not something that I usually write, but I enjoyed the challenge, and again it added to the angst that this story has been filled with. I'm so pleased that you all liked Kurt's reaction, I did worry whether it would be slightly out of character, but then I thought, Kurt is the kind of guy who would want revenge for something like this. Oh and you guys really made me smile when you got protective of Raine, that was great :) None of you seemed at all keen on Jesse being the only person to help Rachel, but come on guys, she needed someone to help her. And you should all me by now, I'm all about the Raine ;)**

**Anyway, I present you with the penultimate chapter, I can't we're actually here already. I never thought I'd make it. But I'm so pleased that I have, and I know I say this at the beginning of every chapter but I am so grateful to everyone who takes the time to read this and comment. So bring on the Raine.**

**Enjoy x**

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><p>Rachel sat silently on the chair closest to the window in Jesse's lounge, she hadn't spoken at all on the walk to Jesse's place and Jesse hadn't felt the need to push her. She sat staring absently into space desperately trying to figure out what to do next. She wanted to talk to Noah properly, she wanted him to know just how sorry she really was, she wanted to talk to Kurt and apologise profoundly until he was at least able to look at her, but most importantly she wanted Blaine, she wanted to hold him and never let him go, knowing that he was probably hurting just as much as she was right now. He was the only person to really understand what she was going through.<p>

"Here," Rachel jumped as she turned to face Jesse who was standing in front of her, smiling and holding out a steaming mug of coffee, she smiled and took it from him gratefully. She raised the mug to her lips and took a steady sip, the hot liquid running through her body.

"I put some extra sugar in that," Jesse told her as he sat down on the sofa opposite her, "It's good for shock, or so I'm told," Rachel smiled sadly before peering out of the window again. Jesse sighed as he watched her; she looked so broken just sat there. When he'd spotted her earlier that night she was a completely different person, she seemed so happy and content.

"Blaine does love you, you know," Jesse said after a while, Rachel sniffed quietly and wiped her eyes, nodding slowly.

"I know," she said quietly, her voice still shaky, "I love him to, I just feel awful, I've hurt so many people,"

"Maybe it's for the best that Kurt knows?" Jesse suggested,

"Oh yes, it certainly looked that way tonight," Rachel said, rolling her eyes at him. "Were you not in the room?"

"Just look at it this way, now it's all out in the open, you don't have to hide anything anymore," Rachel sighed sadly; she only wished that it would be that easy. Jesse watched her intently and could see that talking about this, especially with him – a person that she barely knew was something that she wasn't really up to, so instead he decided to change tactics.

"So Blaine tells me you're taking part in Julliard's Summer Show?" Jesse asked, and Rachel nodded, somewhat grateful for the distraction.

"I'm the lead actually," she smiled.

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><p>Blaine practically threw his money at the taxi driver as he ran towards the apartment block, he'd been furious when he'd left Wes and David's place to see Kurt already leaving in the familiar yellow taxicab. He ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time and forcing his key into the lock, he pushed the door wide open and ran inside.<p>

"Kurt?" he shouted, as he ran towards their bedroom, he pushed the door open and froze as he saw a selection of cases spread out across the room.

"Kurt, you have to listen to me," Blaine tried as Kurt stormed across the room, throwing piles of clothes into each case. Kurt barely lifted his gaze.

"I want nothing more to do with you," he stated coldly.

"Kurt, I just want to explain," Blaine attempted again, and this time Kurt stopped what he was doing and turned to face him, his face blotchy from tears.

"Explain what Blaine, how you've been sleeping with one of my best friends behind my back for the last month, all the time claiming you love me?" Blaine gulped; he really hated the way that sounded.

"I didn't think so." Kurt snarled,

"How did you find out?" Blaine asked quietly.

"I heard you talking about that '_fantastic'_ night, the morning after the party," Blaine stared at Kurt blankly, that had been weeks ago, Kurt had really known all this time?

"Why didn't you say anything?" Blaine asked, running his hand through his hair.

"Are you really that stupid?" Kurt asked and Blaine stared at him, "I didn't say anything, because I love you so much that it physically hurts, I didn't want to believe it!"

"Why did you use your savings for us to go to Vegas if you knew that I was seeing Rachel?" Blaine asked, his tone now becoming as cold as Kurt's.

"I thought that if I could get your attention again, and we could get actually spend some time alone again, I thought you'd forget about her and remember why we were in love! It didn't work of course, I knew you were thinking about her the whole we were out there, I even gave you a chance to come clean, but you still kept lying to me."

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't!" Kurt hissed, pointing his finger in Blaine's face, "Don't even say that word, you have no idea what it means."

"I never meant for it to end like this,"

"Does it really matter? You lied to me Blaine, you hurt me in a way that I never, _ever_, thought you off all people could!" Kurt started crying again, this time wiping his eyes furiously with the sleeve of his jumper, not caring what he was doing to it anymore.

"Kurt, I…" Blaine sighed as he tried his hardest to comfort Kurt. Kurt pushed him away furiously and glared at him.

"Was it really worth it Blaine?" Kurt snapped, "Was she worth throwing everything that we had, just for some stupid fling?" Blaine glanced at Kurt and sighed quietly.

"It's not just a fling, I love her Kurt," Kurt started laughing cruelly and Blaine frowned at him.

"You're gay Blaine, you don't love her. You said you loved me, and look how that turned out," Kurt spat angrily.

"I don't expect you to understand, but it's different with Rachel," Blaine said softly, as Kurt rolled his eyes and zipped up 2 of his cases. He picked them up and carried them both to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Blaine asked, frantically following behind him

"You really expect me to stay here after everything?" Kurt asked quietly, not daring to turn around and face Blaine for fear of crying even more, "I'm leaving Blaine, and I don't want you to come looking for me. You finally got your wish,"

"Kurt, I didn't wish for any of this, I know you're angry now, but I hope that one day we can at least talk to each other," Blaine could feel his own tears filling his eyes now, but he didn't care.

"I wouldn't count on it," Kurt mumbled as he opened the door and took a deep breath.

"I really don't want things to end like this for us," Blaine croaked, as his own tears began to stream down his face.

"You should've thought about that before you slept with _her_,"

Blaine watched as Kurt walked away and he knew that there was nothing else that he could do, he'd ruined everything. Kurt had been in his life throughout everything, and now all of a sudden he was gone. Blaine slammed the front door shut and slowly walked back into his bedroom, he stared at the mess that Kurt had created as he frantically packed and Blaine couldn't help comparing it to the mess that his own life had turned into.

* * *

><p>"Thank you for walking me home," Rachel said quietly as she stood outside of her building with Jesse, he shrugged and smiled at her.<p>

"Are you going to be okay, I'd hate to think of you going up there alone," he told her and Rachel smiled gratefully.

"I need to face them sooner or later," she sighed, "But thank you for your concern, Blaine is really lucky to have a friend like you," she paused when she remembered the look of pure disgust that her best friend had given her that evening. When she considered things, she really no one to confide in, Kurt and Tina were her closest friends in the city and she'd managed to lose them both in one night. She was just grateful that Jesse had found her when he did, because she had no idea where she would be right now without him.

"Of course he is, I'm Jesse St James." Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled at him, "But seriously, if you ever need to talk or anything, just give me a call," Rachel nodded and thanked him one more time before making the slow walk up the stairs to her apartment.

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><p>Blaine wasn't sure how long it had been since Kurt had left, all he knew was that the apartment now felt cold and empty, and it didn't feel like home anymore. He jumped at every noise he heard, each time wondering whether it was Kurt or Rachel that had come home. Of course he'd tried calling them both at times throughout the night, he wasn't surprised when he constantly reached Kurt's voicemail, it was Rachel's whereabouts that he was most worried about. He hadn't even thought about her when he'd left the party, Kurt was his main priority and now he had no idea where Rachel was and whether she was okay. He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a key turning in the front door; he stood up and stared into the empty doorway.<p>

"Rachel?" he shouted, he heard soft footsteps and felt a wave of relief wash over him when Rachel finally made her appearance. He quickly ran over to her and scooped her into his arms, holding her as tightly as he could.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have left you like that," he whispered in between kisses. Rachel shook her head and smiled softly at him.

"You did what you had to do," she told him,

"But I shouldn't have just left you to deal with everybody like that, I mean my whole family were there," Rachel shrugged and clasped his hand tightly and the led him into the lounge and sitting on the sofa. Blaine placed his arm securely around her and let out a quiet sigh.

"What happened with Kurt?" Rachel asked finally, Blaine sighed again and ran his free hand through his hair.

"He left, he said he didn't want anything more to do with me," Rachel sighed and squeezed him gently, letting him know that she was there for him. "I've never seen him so angry before,"

"Well, Noah wasn't exactly thrilled with the news," Rachel sighed sadly.

"How did it end up like this?" Blaine asked, and Rachel sighed, unable to answer him. The pair sat in silence for a while, each of them too caught up in their own thoughts, neither of them had planned their lives to end up this way, Rachel's first love had always been performing, and she had been perfectly happy working her towards that love. Blaine had always been so sure that he loved Kurt, never having cared about anyone else in quite the same way, but they had been thrown together by fate, and their own perspective views had been thrown off course. Rachel yawned quietly Blaine sat up and Rachel pulled away from his embrace.

"It's been a long night Rachel, why don't we go to bed?" Rachel lifted her eyes to meet his, and Blaine could see the hurt that they held, he'd seen her upset before, but never this broken and exhausted.

"We've hurt so many people Blaine," Rachel croaked again, as she felt a new rush of tears threatening to make an appearance, "I just really want to be alone for a while."

"Rachel, I know you're upset now, but the hard part is over." Blaine told her, his eyes not leaving hers, "I want to be with you, I love you Rachel."

"I love you to, but if we jump directly into a relationship, after everything that has happened tonight, it wouldn't be right. We still have our own demons to deal with."

"So what are you saying, after everything that we've been through, we just give up?" Rachel shook her head and sighed.

"No, of course not. I just think we need to be realistic. I love you Blaine, but for this to work between us, we need some time apart so we can really think about what we want."

"I know what I want Rachel, I want you." Blaine pleaded, fearing that they had reached the end before they had even had a chance to begin properly.

"I'm not going anywhere Blaine, but can you really see this happening while we're trying to come to terms with all the pain that we've both caused? I don't want to lose you, but I'm scared that if we jump right into this then we'll start to resent each other, and I love you too much for that to happen." Rachel stared at him, and Blaine paused as he considered what Rachel had just said, he'd never really thought about it like that. He knew that he had to face his family again, he knew that they'd be confused and incredibly loyal to Kurt, he didn't want Rachel to have to face that yet, he didn't want them to start their relationship arguing about something that neither of them could help.

"I'll call Jesse tomorrow, see if I can stay with him for a few days," Blaine told her, kissing her cheek softly, "We'll have one more night together," Rachel pulled away and shook her head slowly, fighting back the tears.

"If we don't do it now, then it will be twice as hard tomorrow," she explained. Blaine sighed and nodded before walking towards his room, Rachel didn't dare follow him. When Blaine returned, he was carrying a small bag. He picked up his keys and walked back into the lounge, giving Rachel a sad smile.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay?" he asked her as he dropped his bag to the floor and Rachel nodded as she walked towards him and wrapped her arms rightly around him. Rachel tried to remain strong; desperately holding herself together it wasn't really working. He held her close and kissed her one more time.

"I don't know if I can get through this without you," Blaine choked as he fought his own tears; Rachel sniffed and pulled away, making firm eye contact with him.

"This isn't the end Blaine," she told him, as he picked up his bag again, he nodded and sighed.

"I'll call you then?" he asked and Rachel smiled.

"You better," she smiled, then stepped closer to him again, "I love you Blaine Anderson,"

"I love you to," he smiled at her, and Rachel felt her heart ache as she watched him leave. She knew it wasn't the end for them, but it didn't make it any easier knowing that she wasn't going to see him everyday.

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><p>The rest of week was incredibly difficult for Rachel, she'd turned up for her final week of rehearsals, and Tina was purposely avoiding her, and when Rachel had finally cornered her, Tina had confirmed what Rachel deep down already knew – they were no longer friends. Rachel was lonely, she got up in the morning, headed to rehearsals, she only spoke when she needed to, and then she returned home to her empty apartment. Blaine had called everyday since he had moved in with Jesse, and Rachel missed him terribly, they tried to keep their conversations light, neither of them mentioning how hard they were both finding it being apart from each other. Rachel never dared to ask whether Blaine had heard from Kurt, or whether he had spoken to Finn and Mia, and Blaine never asked about Noah. It was still to raw for them to talk about, so their conversations never really lasted that long, but for Rachel it was still a relief to hear Blaine's voice on a regular basis. Blaine was also moping and Jesse was finding it difficult to deal with, he had been split between both Rachel and Blaine, trying to make sure that they were both okay, and although they were both putting on a brave face, Jesse knew that neither of them were dealing too well with their current situation.<p>

Jesse took a deep breath as he knocked on Rachel's front door, he waited a couple of minutes before the door opened and Rachel stood on the other side, smiling meekly at him.

"Jesse, what are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you here today." Jesse shrugged as she stepped aside and Jesse walked in.

"I thought I'd come and check on you, and see how you were feeling," Rachel rolled her eyes as she closed the door behind him and followed him into the lounge when Jesse was already getting comfortable.

"I told you yesterday, I'm okay," she stressed and Jesse stared at her.

"He misses you to, you know?" Rachel paused and slowly sat down opposite him,

"How is he? Really I mean," Jesse shrugged and leant forward.

"He's not coping too well – you're all he talks about," Rachel gulped and continued to stare at Jesse, "He hasn't left the apartment since he arrived, and if I hear _'Right Kind of Wrong'_ one more time, I think I'll scream!" Rachel smiled fondly, that had been the song that Blaine had sang to her before admitting that he loved her.

"Blaine told me that he was doing okay, I only spoke to him last night," Rachel sighed, and Jesse shook his head.

"He doesn't want you to worry, he said he's already caused you enough upset," Rachel's eyes softened as she continued to listen to Jesse, she couldn't believe that she'd been stupid to believe that was really doing as well as he'd told her, she was barely coping herself.

"None of this is his fault," Rachel reasoned, "I don't blame him, we just needed some space."

"And he gets that, it just doesn't make it any easier. Do you know that his family aren't talking to him?" Rachel's eye widened and she shook her head.

"Because of me? Jesse that's horrible, I…"

"Finn and Mia had a huge fight apparently, they all blame Blaine of course," Jesse continued and Rachel stood up and paced across the floor, trying to think straight.

"But it wasn't his fault!" she shrieked, "None of this was, we never wanted to hurt each anyone, we even tried to stay away from each other, but we couldn't do it!"

"Rachel, I didn't come here to blame you, for what it's worth, I don't judge either of you, you just fell in love at the wrong time. I just thought you deserved to know what was really going on," Rachel nodded and gave him a grateful smile.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," Jesse shrugged and Rachel excused herself briefly and walked into her bedroom, before walking out and carrying an envelope and handing it to Jesse.

"What's this?" he asked, holding the envelope in front of him.

"Will you give it to Blaine, and tell him that I'm ready if he is?" she asked hopefully. Jesse smiled and nodded and he tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket.

"Sure thing Rachel."


	23. Chapter 23

**Well, we finally made it :) Can I just say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to read this, and a special thank you to everyone who has reviewed this. You have no idea how much it means to me, especially as this is a completely different genre to what I usually write, the same for the pairing. But I just can't resist me some Raine - it's just so good, and since the writers have completely dismissed the idea now, I guess fanfiction is all we really have. I've got an idea for another Raine story, this time it would be a one shot, and is based on a video that I created dedicated to Rachel and Blaine, that should be up sometime next week, so keep an eye out for that. Other than that, I'm going to focus my attention on my other multi-chaptered story 'International Directions' which of course I'd love you all to read, there is also a strong Raine friendship in that.**

**So now, I present to you all the final chapter of this story, and I hope that you're all happy with the way I've ended it, and hopefully I've managed to give you all what you want.**

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><p>"But, I don't understand Bunny," Rachel sighed as she held the phone to her ear, "Your father and I were really looking forward to coming to see you perform,"<p>

"I know Daddy, I just think that maybe it would be for the best that you didn't come to this show," she closed her eyes tightly, as she could hear her father's disappointment through the line.

"Rachel, we've never missed any of your performances, what makes you think we'd start with this one?" _Maybe because I've messed up big time and I couldn't bare to see the disappointment on your faces when you see what I've done?_ Rachel bit her lip and sighed quietly.

"I'm just really nervous Daddy," she said quietly, "This show plays a big part in our final grade for the year, plus there are always casting agents at these things, I'm worried that if you're there as well, then the nerves might really get the better of me." Rachel waited patiently as her father processed the news and hoped that the lie that she'd concocted was enough to convince her father.

"Okay Rachel, we'll miss this one, because it's obviously very important to you, but promise me that you'll come home during the summer, we miss you so much." Her father reasoned and Rachel nodded.

"Of course I'll come and visit, I miss you both to,"

When Rachel had finished with the phone call she let out a quiet sigh – that was the first time that she had ever lied to her father's and she prayed that she'd never have to do it again. It also sickened her that she was becoming such an accomplished liar, if her father's were to see her now she was sure that they'd barely recognise her, she was not the same girl she was when she lived in Lima.

* * *

><p>"There's someone to see you," Jesse stated as he walked into the lounge where Blaine was yet again listening to <em>'Right Kind of Wrong' <em>on repeat andreading the contents of the envelope that Jesse had passed over to him only a few hours ago, Blaine nodded and quickly stuffed it into his pocket and turned the music off. He turned around and gulped when he saw his sister giving him an awkward smile from behind Jesse.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Jesse smiled, closing the door behind him,

"Why are you here Mia?" Blaine asked quietly, "If you're here to yell at me, then you're too late. Mom and Dad have already beat you to it,"

"I thought I'd come and check out your latest living arrangements, especially as I never actually made it to the last place," Mia smirked, as she walked around the room slowly. Blaine shrugged and slumped into the nearest chair.

"It's only temporary, just until Rachel and I can figure out where we go from here," Blaine explained, Mia nodded and glanced around the room, before focusing on her younger brother again.

"So, about that," Mia started and Blaine rolled his eyes,

"Don't start Mia, I'm really not in the mood for this right now," Mia shook her head and walked over and perched herself on the coffee table directly in front of Blaine.

"I just want to talk."

"Does Finn know that you're here?" Blaine asked bluntly, noticing his sister's expression change immediately, "Mom told me that you've been arguing a lot since the party, she blamed me for that too,"

"Blaine, it was a lot for us all to take in. We all thought that Kurt and you were endgame, Finn is Kurt's brother, of course he's going to be mad," Mia explained.

"And you?" Blaine asked,

"I don't condone what you did, not for one second." Blaine sighed and turned away, "But, you're my baby brother, and despite what you might think, I will always care about you." Blaine nodded, and Mia sighed as she took a good look at her brother, and while she didn't understand his reasons behind his actions, she knew that he was hurting just as much as Kurt right now.

"How is Kurt?" Blaine asked after a while, Mia sighed and shrugged.

"Blaine, I really don't think…"

"Look, I know he doesn't want to see me, I just want to know how he's doing," Blaine argued, and Mia relented slightly.

"He's trying to hold it together," she explained and Blaine nodded and reached over to turn the CD player on again, the music started and Mia sighed.

"What is it with this song?" Mia asked, "I hear that you've been playing it a lot the last couple of days."

"I sang this to Rachel, right before I told her I loved her," Blaine mumbled, his voice croaking. He hadn't spoken to anyone properly since that night when he turned up on Jesse's doorstep. The conversation had been pretty forced and Blaine had only spoken to Jesse when it was completely necessary or if Jesse had overheard a conversation and demanded to know what was going on. He knew that Jesse was visiting Rachel on a daily basis, and the majority of their conversations had ended up being about Rachel. Blaine gulped as he tried to stop himself from crying, it didn't work, in fact in only made it worse. Mia sighed and reached out and pulled him into a hug, comforting him as he cried into her shoulder.

"Oh Blaine, how did you get into this mess?" she said quietly, patting Blaine's back as she spoke.

"I really didn't mean to hurt anyone Mia, you have to believe me," he mumbled into her shoulder and Mia nodded and continued to comfort him.

"I believe you," she soothed.

Mia eventually managed to sooth Blaine enough to them to have a proper conversation, she knew not that his barriers were down fully and they'd be able to talk like they used to when they were growing up.

"So, what is happening now, between Rachel and you, I mean?" Mia asked, and Blaine shrugged and pulled the envelope out of his pocket.

"She told me she needed some space," Blaine explained, "She said that she was scared that we'd end up resenting each other if we dived straight into a relationship, especially the way the truth came out," Mia nodded and smiled at Blaine.

"She sounds like a smart girl," she commented and Blaine smiled,

"She is," he said quietly, "But she asked Jesse to give me this, and said that she's ready if I am."

"And are you ready?" Mia asked and Blaine shrugged, unable to give her a direct answer. Mia's phone started ringing loudly and she sighed as she pulled it from her pocket.

"Hey Finn…yeah, I'm on my way now…okay, I'll see you soon, love you to, bye," she finished the call and sighed quietly and stared at Blaine.

"I need to go Blaine," Blaine nodded as he stood up and hugged his sister tightly, "You'll figure out what to do, I know you will."

"I'm really glad you came Mia," Blaine smiled as he pulled away from her.

"Mom and Dad will come around, they just need time to process things, and deep down they just want you to be happy." She smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

"Thanks Mia," he said quietly as he walked her to the front door. They exchanged goodbyes and Blaine hugged Mia one more time before she finally left. When he closed the door behind her, he finally felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

><p>Rachel sighed as she sat in front of her mirror after completing her make up, she could hear excited conversation from everyone around her as they rushed around to get ready. She still wasn't sure whether Blaine was actually going to come tonight, they'd barely spoken since Jesse had last visited her. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, she knew that he had things of his own that he had to work through and she accepted that. She was pulled from her thoughts when Tina sat down at the dresser next to her and began working on her own make up, not yet noticing that Rachel was sitting next to her. Rachel took a deep breath and smiled slightly.<p>

"Good luck tonight," she said quietly, Tina rolled her eyes and turned her back on her. Rachel sighed and stood up and wondered through the rush of cast members.

"Hey Rachel!" she paused when she heard someone calling her name, she turned around, regretting it instantly when she saw Jacob approaching her.

"My sources tell me that you're recently single," he smirked and Rachel rolled her eyes in disgust, "Since it's our opening night, I'm going to take you out to celebrate, and if you want to give me a little something, something in return, I wouldn't say no."

"You're such a jerk Jacob!" Rachel hissed, "I wouldn't go out with you if someone paid me!"

"What's the matter, am I not gay enough, I hear that's more your style these days," he scoffed and Rachel glared at him, resisting the burning desire she had to punch him.

"Just leave me alone," she said through gritted teeth.

"Hey, I'm stating the facts here, call me when you want a real man to show you how it's done." He smirked at her and walked in the opposite direction, Rachel stared after him, she could feel the tears and she shook her head furiously, she wasn't going to cry, not tonight, she'd dreamt of this moment all year, it was finally her turn, she wasn't going to let anyone take it away from her.

"Places people!" Rachel turned on her heel and strutted towards the stage, ready to take her position for her opening number.

* * *

><p>Blaine took a deep breath as he stood in front of main doors to the Julliard theatre; he watched as people walked inside, each of them too wrapped up in their own conversation to even notice him. When Jesse had first given him the envelope with his ticket inside, he was a little nervous to say the least. Sure Rachel had said that she was ready when he was, but Blaine wasn't sure what that meant. He desperately wanted to be with her and give what they had a chance, but it still didn't stop the anxiety he was dealing with.<p>

"So, are we actually going to go inside?" Jesse asked, walking up behind Blaine. He nodded and the two walked inside and took their seats, patiently waiting for the show to begin.

"Do you think she's okay?" Blaine asked, "I mean, she did want me to have the tickets, that's a good sign, right?" Jesse rolled his eyes and turned to face his friend.

"Will you just chill out?" Jesse laughed, "You two have been apart for an entire week, yet you're all each other can talk about, of course she wants to see you," Blaine furrowed his eyebrows in concentration and nodded slowly before turning to face the stage, once again. The house lights came down and Blaine stared at the stage, his breath catching in his throat when he saw Rachel finally appear on stage. If she was nervous, she certainly didn't show it. Jesse glanced at Blaine and gave him a satisfied grin as Blaine sat in his seat, completely mesmerised by Rachel's performance on stage.

The performance finished and Blaine, along with the rest of the audience, jumped to his feet and applauded enthusiastically. Rachel beamed on the stage as she embraced the applause that everyone was giving her; she scanned the crowd hoping that she'd be able to spot Blaine, but there was no sign on him. She sighed quietly, before taking one more bow and returning backstage, to get changed and head home once again to her empty apartment.

"Are you coming Blaine?" Jesse asked as the audience began to leave the theatre, Blaine shook his head and sunk his hands deep into his pockets.

"I think I'm going to wait around for a while," he said and Jesse nodded,

"Right okay, tell Rachel that she was amazing tonight," he smirked knowingly and Blaine laughed as he said goodbye to his friend. Blaine watched as everyone began to leave, before making his way to the stage door, he was pretty sure that would be the best place to look for Rachel.

* * *

><p>Rachel sighed as she watched the backstage area become full of family and friends of various cast members, she slightly regretted telling her dad's not to bother making the journey out to New York, but she really couldn't deal with facing them right now. They didn't know what had been going on in their daughter's life, and Rachel wanted to keep it that way, at least until she knew what was going to happen next for her and Blaine. She spotted Mike on the other side of the room as he hugged and congratulated Tina and she sighed quietly as she quickly got changed and picked up her bag and slipped out of the door unnoticed by the rest of the cast.<p>

* * *

><p>Blaine continued to wait for Rachel, he still didn't know what he was going to say to her, and whether she'd actually want what he wanted, after all of the hurt and trouble they had caused, but he didn't care, he just knew that he had to see her. He sighed as he leant against the wall, he heard the door open and he saw her emerge from behind the door. Rachel hadn't noticed him standing there; he smirked and cleared his throat.<p>

"You know, it occurred to me that we never actually had a first date." Rachel jumped slightly and smiled as Blaine walked over to her.

"Blaine, what are you doing here?" she asked, before he pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips firmly against hers. He smiled as she immediately responded to the kiss, and he held her tighter.

"I didn't think you'd come," Rachel smiled as she pulled away from the kiss,

"I promised you that I'd be there for your opening night," he grinned,

"Yes, but that was before everything blew up in our faces," Blaine shrugged and kissed her again.

"I had to see you again Rachel, it's been torture not seeing you everyday," he admitted. "And although we've hurt so many people, I'm actually glad that it's all out there, you know?" Rachel nodded slowly.

"I know that it's going to take everyone some time to get used to the idea, but I don't want to have to hide how much I love you any longer," Rachel smiled at him and kissed his cheek softly.

"I've missed you so much," she whispered, "I know that it was my idea to spend some time apart, but I think we can both agree that it's not done either of us any good."

"I want to be with you Rachel, all the time. I want to be the guy that comforts you when you need it, I want to be the guy that supports you as you take over Broadway, I want to be the guy that sits in the audience cheering loudly when you receive your first Tony Award. I want to be your boyfriend Rachel," Rachel smiled and pulled him into another kiss, running her hands through his hair as he placed his hands on her lower back, holding her body closely against his.

"So, about that first date, did you have anywhere in mind?" Rachel smiled, pressing her forehead against his; Blaine gave her a broad grin and clasped her hand tightly inside of his.

"The possibilities are endless," he grinned, Rachel giggled as Blaine started walking away, taking her with him, "But luckily for you, we've got an entire lifetime of dates ahead of us,"

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it :) I really hope you liked it. I am thinking of posting an epilogue to this, but I'm not entirely sure yet what I'm going to do, so for now I'm going to list this as complete, but let me know what your thoughts are regarding the epilogue - would you want one, or are you happy to leave it here? Also, someone requested a sequel, and again, it's not something that I'm working on, but I'll never say never, because Raine doesn't seem to want to leave me alone, and I'm sure that one day I'll want to revisit them and see what is happening in their lives. Let me know what you think, and whether you would want to read a sequel, or again, are you happy to leave them both alone for now?<strong>


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